


To Restore The Balance

by CaptEdKenway



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alpha Scott McCall, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Beacon Hills is being invaded, Boyds first name should be Boyd, Embedded Images, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Gen, M/M, Magical Stiles Stilinski, My take on Omegas, Scott is a Bad Alpha, Witches, photo manips, scott is an asshole
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-25
Updated: 2017-08-09
Packaged: 2018-11-19 01:25:53
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 15
Words: 53,503
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11302872
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CaptEdKenway/pseuds/CaptEdKenway
Summary: He opened the little drawer in his nightstand, pulling out the old, worn book that sat in there. He tried not to open the book often, it was just too painful. But tonight he accepted that it would not remain unopened, so he pulled it out and flipped it to page 304 and slid out the small photo that had been tucked secretly between the pages. Tears fell and a small hiccup left him as he tried to stifle a small sob. He hastily wiped his nose with the back of his hand and then finally pulled the little photo up. His eyes watered hard as he ran his thumb over it, tracing the laughing face of the boy in it. The carefree look on his face was what Derek tried to remember him by. He could still remember taking this picture like it had happened yesterday.  They had felt free that day, just the two of them.Derek wanted so badly to go back to that day when the pack was healthy, he was surrounded by family and friends, and the man he loved had been there. They had been so new, only just recently admitting to one another their true feelings for each other. Derek had only gotten another two weeks with him before it had all been ripped away from him forever.





	1. Chapter 1

 

 

_When the day has come, But I've lost my way around_   
_And the seasons stop and hide beneath the ground_   
_When the sky turns gray_   
_And everything is screaming_   
_I will reach inside_   
_Just to find my heart is beating_   
  
  


 

Scott paced the room, agitation seeping from his pores. The rest of the pack sat uncomfortably around the house, most nursing wounds but all remaining quiet in the face of their Alpha’s mood. When Scott got like this it was best to give him his space and let him calm down, and he’d been at it for a while, yelling at the pack. Derek stood in the back of the room watching him and couldn’t help as his thoughts wound down a very familiar path of wondering what the hell had gone wrong with Scott. Long gone were the days of Scott’s black and white moralistic attitude, where everyone could be saved or given a second chance. The dorky teenager had aged into a cynical, angry man who had a tendency to act out irrationally and shoot first, then ask questions.

Despite the fact that Derek had been alpha at one point, he still felt like he was betraying Scott, _his_ alpha, with the direction some of his thoughts had taken the last few months. Scott had been alpha of this pack longer than Derek ever had, but Derek - in the few times he allowed himself to acknowledge his thoughts – had begun to question Scott’s ability to lead. He took in the rest of the pack, saw the downturned faces, the smell of concern and fear that emanated from some of them. Derek knew not all of that fear was a result of the current supernatural situation they were caught in either. The uneasy glances at Scott betrayed some of the true sources of fear.

Derek kept one eye on Scott and one on the other members. As one of the original members, hell, as the _founding member_ of the pack, he was hit again with the bitter sadness of how many of the pack had left. A couple of years ago Scott had gone on a turning spree, turning people at the drop of a hat. Some had stayed, others had left. Derek still felt the empty spot in his heart that Isaac and Jackson had left, Derek’s original betas from when he had been alpha. They had finally given up, telling Derek they could no longer, in good conscience, stay under the leadership of Scott. Jackson had, at one point, tried to convince Derek to fight Scott and take the pack back from him, telling him he was a better alpha than Scott had been. Derek hadn’t been able to entertain that idea out of some strange sense of loyalty. Erica and Boyd had stayed out of their loyalty to Derek, but they’d made it crystal clear, in private, that they were only here for Derek. Derek felt it wouldn’t be much longer before they’d had enough and left as well.

Derek looked around the small house that had been declared the ‘pack house’, despite it not having anything to really cater to the pack with. Maybe he was a snob or selfish or something, but Derek couldn’t help but feel like part of the alpha’s job was to provide for the pack, and that meant finding a way to accomplish that in the form of food, rooms - a central place to meet. There were no extra rooms here, no one stayed here except Kira. They didn’t have pack nights spent in front of the tv watching movies, eating and just hanging out. Derek had offered up his house, the original pack house, but then had been accused of trying to steal the pack away from Scott. Derek had offered to help financially add on to Scott’s house in order to add the extra rooms but was met with the same accusation, so he left it alone. So while Scott declared it the pack house, it truly was just a place for pack members to sit while Scott railed at them about some perceived slight against him.

He found himself wishing for his uncle. Peter had taken off three years ago out of disgust for the way the pack was being handled. He’d told Derek that either he needed to take Scott down and take the pack back or the pack would implode. Peter knew Derek wouldn’t do it, and Peter, despite his earlier rampage after coming out of his coma, wanted nothing to do with being alpha of this group. Derek had woken one day to find the loft empty, a note placed on the counter from his uncle stating he couldn’t stay any longer. He was going to search for a new healthy pack and when he found one would contact him. That had been three years ago and Derek hadn’t heard a word from him.

Trying to reign in the bitterness creeping in on him before Scott picked up on it and singled him out about it, he looked around at the faces in the room. Lydia was there, but she acted as more of a consultant nowadays, only showing up periodically. There were the newer wolves – Liam and his girlfriend Hayden, then Kira the kitsune. Derek liked her, she was quirky and seemed like a bit of a flake at first, but he’d discovered quickly that it was a bit of an act and that she was deadly with her sword. Then there was Malia, the coyote, who’d shown up one day. Derek had felt like he knew her, but couldn’t place it. Still hadn’t, even though every so often something familiar would hit him about her. Brett and Mason were relatively new wolves as well. There had been others who’d been turned by Scott, two had been killed and three had defected to the Johnson pack up in Oregon. Scott still declared them traitors to the pack, holding on to the sense of betrayal he felt from their leaving. It never seemed to register that he was the reason they left.

Derek looked up as Scott stopped his angry pacing and turned to pierce his pack with his stare. “Tonight, tonight was a fucking joke! You all obviously need more training if this is the best we can do,” he ground out, his voice thick with derision and contempt. “You continuously go out there and get your asses handed to you, time and time again. I am sick to death of the lack of success of this pack, of my pack! You are an embarrassment!”

Someone bravely spoke up, Kira apparently. “Scott, we were outnumbered by far, and without Satomi’s pack there to help us, I think we’re all lucky no one was killed.” Derek wasn’t surprised she was the one to speak up for the pack. There was a weird relationship between her and Scott. Deep down he thought Kira loved Scott, but it was honestly not a very healthy relationship. However, there was no denying that she had a bit of a calming effect on Scott when he got irate like he was now.

Scott let out a snort of air, shaking his head. With his hands on his hips he looked over the room, then told everyone to go home. He wasn’t in the mood to deal with the state of the pack, he said. He waved his hands at everyone in disgust before storming off into a side room and slamming the door shut. Derek shook his own head at the words. What the pack needed right now was to lick their wounds together, to support each other. To heal. There was a reason why everyone had been taking longer than usual to heal from wounds – the pack bonds were breaking down. Derek walked out of the small house first, since he’d been closest to the door. He made his way out to his SUV parked on the street, then as pack members slowly came out, most looking dejected, he nodded at each of them, a silent affirmation to head over to the Hale house to recover if they felt like it. He saw several smiles of gratification from tired faces and was happy to see cars heading towards the edge of the preserve. Derek may not hold any rank in the pack but he did his best to take care of them. Derek climbed into his Toyota and before he could turn it on he looked up to see Lydia walking up to him. He rolled his window down and leaned towards the window when she reached in and wrapped her arms around Derek’s neck.

They both took comfort in the hug, both knowing what the other was feeling without words needing to be said. She bumped her head on Derek’s forehead, then pulled back a little and smiled when Erica and Boyd climbed into the car. Derek would drive them back home to his place, their home. Lydia kissed Derek chastely on the cheek before pulling back out of the window.

“Hang in there Derek.”

Derek could only shrug his shoulders. What could he possibly say? There were no words to describe the current state of the McCall pack. Derek could only shake off the feeling of depression and loneliness, the almost hopeless feeling one feels when stuck in an abusive relationship. But, he gave the banshee a smile and patted the hand that was laying on the window sill. “See you at the house?” He asked, and was happy when she nodded a yes. With a wave she headed off to her car and Derek turned the ignition and pulled out of the spot on the street in front of Scott’s house.

They made the drive in silence, as they often did after pack meetings. He rubbed a hand over the patched up gash on his arm, willing it to heal faster as he turned on to the road that would eventually lead to his home. Trying to shake off the morose feelings he sped up to merge with traffic while thinking to himself that something needed to change. And soon.

ooOOoo

The pizza hadn’t lasted long as bodies were laid out around the couches and floor as the movie played. Derek sat on one end of the large plush couch with Erica’s head in his lap. She was laid out with her feet in Boyd’s lap, who was sitting on the opposite end. Boyd was lazily rubbing her feet and Derek carded his fingers through her hair. Erica, for her part, was feeling like the cat who got the cream as she enjoyed the attention.  Lydia sat on the floor between Derek’s legs, her head leaning against his knee and her arms wrapped around one of his toned legs.

It was all very intimate in a non-sexual way. Lydia only had eyes for Jordan, the deputy down at the sheriff’s station. But even though she wasn’t a wolf she felt the peace and calmness of the touching and scenting that happened. Malia was sprawled out on her stomach, her head resting on her crossed arms in front of her. Liam was next to her sitting cross-legged and playing with his empty soda can. Derek was surprised he’d come, he figured he’d stay behind with Scott. Hayden had gone home, saying she was tired and wanted to shower. Liam was in a tough spot, he was fiercely loyal to Scott, but at the same time instinctually knew he was missing something that he wasn’t getting. He’d become fast friends with Erica who’d taken to him like a big sister to her little brother. Derek had been helping him, explaining about the pack bonds and the need for touch, scenting and being close, especially after a fight. So while he’d made the effort to come, Derek could tell he wasn’t settled by a long shot. Brett and Mason could tell as well and would periodically rub a hand over an arm or shoulder, something to maintain contact with the young wolf.

“Does anyone want anything?” he asked, seeing that everyone had finished food and drink. There was a chorus of ‘no’, so he leaned back into the couch. Malia, being Malia, simply snorted out a “I’m fucking stuffed dude.” Erica smiled up at him from her spot in his lap.

“You take such good care of us Derek. You’re such a pack mom.”

Lydia felt Derek stiffen at Erica’s words, spoken in innocence but painful all the same. She offered him a silent squeeze to his leg and looked up at him to see the stricken look on his face. Erica muttered an ‘ow’ when Boyd pinched her toe, and when she looked at him realized what she’d said. She twisted her face up to Derek’s. “Shit Derek, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean..” Derek cut her off with a sad shake of his head and a wan smile, as if to say ‘no big deal.’ Everyone pretended not to notice the change in atmosphere and Lydia just rubbed her face against Derek’s knee while reaching up to grab his hand. She pulled it down and kissed his knuckles, offering him her support.

A few hours later, after Liam, Malia, Brett, Mason and Lydia said their goodbyes and made their way home, Erica and Boyd headed down the hall to the room they shared, saying goodnight to Derek as they went. Derek wished them a peaceful sleep as he tossed out the pizza boxes and empty soda cans before he made his way upstairs to his own room.

He closed the door to his room before turning on the small desk lamp, bathing the room in a light glow. He pulled his shirt off, then toed out of his boots and jeans, replacing them with an old Beacon Hills High School lacrosse shirt. He ignored the big 24 on the back, even though there was no denying why he chose to wear it tonight. He pulled on a pair of flannel pants before heading into his bathroom to brush his teeth and pee. He finished up, flicking off the bathroom light as he made his way over to his bed and sat on the edge. He rested his elbows on his knees, rubbing his eyes. He’d been trying all night - ever since Erica spoke those words- to contain his emotions, but there was no stopping it now. He let out a shuddering breath as he felt a tear escape down his cheek. He tried to fight the memories rising to the surface before saying a silent ‘fuck it’ and letting them loose. There was nothing he’d be able to do tonight to avoid this, it had already taken ahold of him and it wasn’t going to let him go until he’d suffered through the memories. He pulled the shirt up a little to bury his nose in it, inhaling deeply, but after so many years the scent was gone. It had been the last thing he’d had to hold on to, and the day he finally admitted the scent was forever gone was the day the last piece of his heart shattered for good.

Distantly he could hear Erica and Boyd quietly arguing about her choice of words earlier. He could hear Erica saying she’d hadn’t even thought, it had just come out. She hadn’t meant anything by it other than how Derek had been taking such good care of them. He tuned them out. It didn’t matter. He didn’t blame her, not in the least. This happened periodically, regardless of what was said around him. He would assure her in the morning that this wasn’t on her. But for now he could feel himself sink into his despair as the face he missed the most swirled in his mind.

He opened the little drawer in his nightstand, pulling out the old, worn book that sat in there. He tried not to open the book often, it was just too painful. But tonight he accepted that it would not remain unopened, so he pulled it out and flipped it to page 304 and slid out the small photo that had been tucked secretly between the pages. He tossed the book back into the drawer before sliding it closed. He laid back on his bed, holding the photo to his chest but not yet looking at it. More tears fell and a small hiccup left him as he tried to stifle a small sob. He hastily wiped his nose with the back of his hand and then finally pulled the little photo up. His eyes watered hard as he ran his thumb over it, tracing the laughing face of the boy in it. The carefree look on his face was what Derek tried to remember him by. He could still remember taking this picture like it had happened yesterday. They’d been running through the woods, for fun for a change, not because someone or thing had been chasing them. They had felt free that day, just the two of them. Derek had pulled his phone out and snapped a picture, capturing the look of pure happiness on the face of the man he loved after they’d gotten into a leaf throwing fight.

Derek wanted so badly to go back to that day, that day when the pack was healthy, he was surrounded by family and friends, and the man he loved had been there. They had been so new, only just recently admitting to one another their true feelings for each other. Derek had only gotten another two weeks with him before it had all been ripped away from him forever.

Derek fell asleep, face wet with tears, the photo clutched to his chest, knowing he would fall into the same dream he always had when he had nights like this. Reliving that day once again, feeling his heart breaking all over, and waking up alone one more time.

_“Derek, he betrayed us! Of course I kicked him out of the pack!”_

_“You couldn’t have waited one more fucking day?? Couldn’t wait until I got back? Why Scott? Why would you do this to him? To me? You know what he is to me!”_

_“He is a traitor! He told them where to find us, told them our one fucking weakness! We lost people because of him! Allison is DEAD because of him! He can rot in hell for all I care!”_

_“I – There has to be another cause or reason for what happened. Why the hell would he do something like that? Think Scott! Why would he? The most loyal member of this pack?!”_

_“I don’t care, he’s dead to me. Stiles Stilinski is dead to me and this pack and will never be allowed back into this territory.”_


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize to all the Scott fans out there...

_When the hour is nigh_  
_And hopelessness is sinking in_  
 _And the wolves all cry_  
 _To feel they're not worth hollering_  
 _When your eyes are red_  
 _And emptiness is all you know_  
 _With the darkness fed_  
 _I will be your scarecrow_

 

The next morning Derek made a point of hugging Erica and Boyd, reassuring her that she wasn’t at fault and trying to quell the waves of sadness and guilt that radiated from her.

“Erica honestly, it wasn’t your fault. I was headed that way long before you said anything, ok? Please believe me,” he smiled at her, his warm hands cupping her cheeks. She’d been crying slightly, which was such an odd sight. Erica always maintained the ‘fuck you’ face, Derek liked to call it. She was sassy, sarcastic and would rip your tongue out if you pissed her off. It killed Derek to see her upset. He hugged her again while Boyd leaned in and kissed her neck, patting Derek on the shoulder as he shuffled into the kitchen for coffee.

Boyd made breakfast for the three of them, scrambling some eggs and cooking up bacon and toast. They had planned on going out for a light run this morning to work out some of the ill feelings inside of them. They had all healed of their wounds from yesterday, but knew they’d probably get more soon. This latest group invading the territory was hell bent on ridding Beacon Hills of the McCall pack.

They ate in silence when the plates were filled with hot food, Derek noticing Erica pushing her eggs around the plate. She kept biting her lip, looking like she wanted to say something. When Derek reached out a hand and placed it on her arm in comfort she dropped her fork and sat back in her chair.

“I miss him Derek. I don’t know why. If he really did what Scott said he did, then I should hate him. But I don’t. And why am I even dwelling on this after all these years? What’s happening to us? To our pack?” She looked so despondent, her eyes watery as she looked at Derek. Boyd had taken her other hand, trying to comfort his wife.

Derek pushed his plate back, no longer hungry. They had buried everything for so many years, refusing to acknowledge their feelings, their concerns and their questions. It seemed like they had all reached a point where they no longer could pretend none of it had ever happened.

“I know Erica. I miss him too. I wish I had an answer. All I know is what I came back to, what I was told happened. I never even got to say goodbye,” he whispered, looking at his plate with unfocused eyes.

He’d been gone two days. Two fucking days to meet with an allied pack’s alpha to discuss the current threat. He’d come back to Beacon Hills expecting to discuss the good news he’d received. Instead he’d ended up stepping into the middle of a complete clusterfuck.

Scott had gone off the rails. Allison was dead, most of the pack severely injured. Derek had been a co-alpha, back then. Back before being pushed out to basically what amounted to the pack omega. He’d come home to utter chaos. Scott was beside himself with grief and anger over losing Allison, ranting and raving about Stiles having killed her and allowing the pack to be ambushed. He’d been one step away from going feral, Derek remembered. When Derek had gotten back Stiles was already gone. Kicked out like a piece of trash. When Derek had tried to find him he’d hit nothing but brick walls. The Sheriff had left town with him, and no one at the station could, or would, provide any information as to where they went. A month later the Stilinski house was put on the market and sold. Nothing Derek did resulted in finding any information on where the two had gone. He’d reached out to other packs but to no avail. No one knew anything about the skinny boy. The Argents flat out refused contact with Derek regarding Stiles, also claiming he was the cause of Allison’s death.

He’d spent months trying to find Stiles. Scouring social media, news articles, talking to packs all over the country. Hell he’d even put out a Craigslist ad one night out of desperation, begging Stiles to call him. Stiles’ had no other family other than his dad, so there was no one else to try and contact, and after months of failed searches, Derek began to accept he would never see his love again.

Derek mentally kicked himself. If he let himself continue down this path he’d be useless to the pack today. They were meeting up with Satomi’s pack to try and sort out a solution to their latest problem. Beacon Hills was currently under siege by several different groups of supernaturals. There was a group of harpies, a coven of witches, another wolf pack and a freaking group of trolls. And all of them were kicking the pack’s collective asses. Satomi’s pack had been offering aid, because she had a feeling they would eventually make their way into her territory as well. No one knew what these groups wanted from Beacon Hills, if it was to take the territory, the nemeton or what. The preserve had basically been turned into a giant battle arena with groups fighting for supremacy. And the McCall pack was losing the fight.

So with a pat of his hand onto Erica’s Derek stood up, took the dishes into the kitchen and tossed them into the sink and then told the other two wolves to get changed for a run. They needed to clear their heads of old memories so that they could focus on the new threat. Erica and Boyd went back into their bedroom to throw on some running shorts and sneakers while Derek took the opportunity to undress in privacy. He slipped quickly out of his clothes and laid them on the couch, then let his wolf out to play. Bones cracked and reformed, muscles stretched and with a bit of a moan Derek shifted into his wolf, shaking out his coat just as Erica came back in the room. She smiled at him before squatting down to rub his ears. Derek let out a wolfish moan as she rubbed a thumb around the outside of the ear canal, it was always an itchy spot for some reason and he leaned into it, enjoying the feel.

The woman laughed, loving Derek in this form. It was a secret amongst the three of them that Derek had achieved a full shift about three years ago. Derek had made it clear that no one else in the pack was to know, especially Scott. He’d been working for so long on trying to achieve it and he wasn’t sure why, or what he had done differently back then, that it had happened finally. But he wouldn’t look a gift horse in the mouth. He loved running on four legs, tongue lolling out of his mouth and tail wagging. It was freeing, especially since the worst of his human emotions became muted. After Boyd joined them they headed outside into the warm air, a cool breeze keeping it from being too warm. It was a beautiful day to run and the trio took off into the woods to enjoy the peacefulness while they could.

 

 

Later on that evening the pack was gathered back at the McCall house, stuffed into chairs and couches, trying to make room for the Satomi pack as well. Scott and Satomi sat next to each other, each with their seconds seated next to them, Kira on Scott’s side, Joseph, an older man, on Satomi’s.

They’d been trying to discuss tactics for tackling the invading groups and Derek could see the tired lines of frustration on Satomi’s face. He doubted anyone else could see it, but as a member of the Hale family – born and raised here – he’d known Satomi since the day he was born. He could tell she was irritated with Scott, but her status as alpha and her sense of pride, decency and just being a good fucking alpha meant that she didn’t allow others to see it. Only Derek’s experience with her let him spy the tell-tale signs.

“Scott, we have to be smart about how we do this. A full blown, head-long rush into action will only result in more deaths on our parts. We are outnumbered, even with our packs combined, and we are going up against magic users.”

They’d been going round and round, Scott wanting to rush in like a bull charging the red cape, while Satomi wanted to be smart about it and devise a game plan. But her words were falling on deaf ears and Scott was being obstinate. Scott was shaking his head, getting ready to refute the other alpha, again. “No, no, no! Between our two packs we should be able to take these things on! You have twice the wolves I do, I don’t see the problem except that your pack isn’t pulling its weight out there!”

Satomi had finally reached the end of her rope and stood abruptly. “Listen you little _whelp_ …” She stopped, pinching her nose and taking a breath in slowly to calm herself. “Yes, I have twice the wolves, which means twice the chance to lose them. If we were going against just one group then I would be agreeing with you on your plan. But to do so now is suicide, and I refuse to send my pack in to be slaughtered.”

Satomi’s phone chirped suddenly, and she put her hand up, asking for a moment, as she pulled it from her pocket. Derek watched her unlock the screen and tap around, probably opening her messaging app. She took a moment to read, nodding to herself, then sent a reply. After she re-locked the phone and put it back into her pocket she addressed Scott once again.

“It looks like I have been successful in gaining the help of another pack.” Derek’s eyebrows raised, as he’d not heard anything about a third pack being willing to come help them. Scott asked her who the pack was, voice tinged with suspicion.

“It took quite a bit of negotiating with their alpha, and their help comes at a steep price to me and my pack. Have you ever heard of the Aonghus pack?”

Scott shook his head no, and Satomi saw all of the McCall pack looking bewildered by the name. “The Aonghus pack hails originally from the Vancouver area, but they are known to be somewhat nomadic.”

“How is that possible? That kind of goes against how a pack works,” someone called out.

Satomi smiled, pulling her patience in. It was sad how uneducated this little pack was in their culture. Only Derek knew how things worked. But Satomi suspected even he had not heard of this pack. “True. They do hold a small bit of territory in Canada, but they also frequently roam. Their alpha is quite unusual. A wolf, but also a mage. A very powerful individual.”

Scott looked surprised at her words. “A wolf that uses magic?” He asked. Derek felt startled as well. He’d never heard of such a thing. It had always been one or the other, you were either a wolf, or something else. Never in his years had he heard of someone who was a wolf, an alpha on top of it, and a mage. It seemed unnatural and altogether very interesting.

“And what does this alpha want as payment,” Scott sneered, almost instantly ready to shoot this down. Satomi just smiled sadly at him. “The payment terms are between myself and the Aonghus alpha Scott.”

“Why? Why the hell would they only deal with you and not us? Is there more to this you’re not telling me?” Anger seemed to be a permanent fixture to Scott’s voice these days, Satomi thought to herself.

“Because Scott, this pack wants nothing at all to do with you or the members of your pack. In fact they flat out refused to even hear me out at first, their hatred for you is so steep. It took me days to even get the alpha to agree to meet with me, and weeks to get this agreement. The Aonghus wish to make it perfectly clear that they offer their help only as a favor to me and my pack.”

Satomi could see Scott sucking in air to ready himself for another tirade so she quickly cut him off. “I am willing to pay his price because we need their help, plain and simple. Your pack is not remotely capable of fighting off all of these groups attacking us and even with my pack offering support we are no match for them. This pack is not only strong enough, but smart enough to claim victory over our foes. We will allow them into the territory or I will take my pack home where it is safe.”

Satomi stood, her words brooking no argument and nodded to her betas curtly, their cue that it was time to leave. Scott would either allow this pack in to help or the McCall pack would die, it really was that simple. As she led her pack out of the small house she offered a smile and a nod of her head to Derek. Derek smiled back and tilted his neck in a sign of respectful submission to his friend. They both had looks of sad resignation in their eyes that both refused to acknowledge.

 

 

That evening after Scott had kicked everyone out, Derek sent a text to Satomi asking if she would meet him for a drink, somewhere between their two homes. She readily agreed and an hour later Derek found himself sitting at a table in the back of family run pub. It was pretty empty tonight so there would be some privacy and being alert would be easier. He stood when Satomi entered, instructing her two betas to remain outside. She was technically out of her territory and always travelled with two betas to guard her.

“Alpha, thank you for meeting with me,” Derek said quietly, baring his neck to the old woman. Satomi merely smiled before she pulled him into a tight hug that lasted longer than most hugs should. When she let go she cupped Derek’s cheek, looking at him fondly. “Derek, please no formalities tonight. Tonight you are the son of my most beloved friend.” She looked into Derek’s sad eyes and swore she could see Talia looking back at her. “You look so much like her, Derek. She would be so proud.”

Derek let out a very impolite snort at her comment before backing off and offering the woman a chair. He waved over the waitress to order drinks. Derek asked for whatever was on tap while Satomi wanted whisky neat. Derek found himself picking at a scratch in the table, not wanting to look at the alpha.

“My mother would be anything but proud Alpha – Satomi. I lost my pack, my alpha status. And what’s left of my pack has been ground into the dust under Scott. I’ve never been around a more broken pack of wolves. I went from being alpha to an omega, trying to keep whatever peace I can find. We’re one step away from all being feral.” Derek could feel his voice catch as his humiliation and guilt took hold. He’d failed his mother so spectacularly, had ruined the Hale name, a name that had meant something for over a hundred years.

Derek heard Satomi let out a sigh before sitting back so that their drinks could be delivered. She thanked the waitress then placed a hand over Derek’s, stilling the nervous picking he was doing to the scratch. “Derek, look at me son. I knew your mother from when we were both toddling around. She was so proud of you boy. You didn’t lose your alpha status by being defeated, for being weak. You willingly sacrificed it to save your uncle. Show me another alpha out there so unselfish as to give up that power for another. Has the pack flourished under Scott? No. Despite being a true alpha something has changed and your pack is suffering under him. But you have stuck with him, trying to hold the pack together. I know how much it hurt you when your betas left, how broken it made you feel. But I honestly believe that the fact the McCall pack is still alive is due to your doing. There’s still some of that alpha spark in you, and I know you are trying to keep the pack together and functional. That’s commendable Derek, it truly is.”

Waves of guilt and misery rolled off of Derek at her words, and he looked miserable. “Tell me why we’re here, I don’t think it was to hear me point out your good points.” Derek shook his head and sat back in the chair, taking a long pull of his beer. He let his eyes dance around the pub, not really focusing on anything but using it as an excuse to gather his words.

“No, you’re quite right. I wanted to meet with you to ask you something. And I’m finding it’s rather hard to actually ask this. It’s making me feel guilty as hell, however irrational that might be.”

Satomi encouraged him to continue, offering no judgement for whatever it was that was on his mind. “I asked you here to seek permission to have a place in your pack, as well as a place for my last two betas, if things continue to get worse with Scott. Erica and Boyd have stayed out of loyalty to me, but they are miserable. They deserve a healthy pack. Even if I wasn’t allowed to join, if they could it would at least put my mind at ease.”

Satomi looked at Derek, taking in his body language, his words and the scents rolling off of him. Hope, guilt, sadness – all mixing together to create a pungent smell. She understood the guilt. The last of the Hales was looking to leave his pack, a pack that had originally been his, in order to join another –technically rival – pack. Derek would view this as the ultimate betrayal to not only his pack but the Hale name and his mom. If he left, the Hale pack would be well and truly dead. But the scent of sadness and hope, hope that if nothing else his last two betas would be permitted to join a happy pack even at the risk of himself becoming a feral omega, that scent broke Satomi’s heart. She could sense how concerned he was for his betas, how he owed them the best possible chance in life. That he would risk becoming feral and most likely ultimately put down by a local hunter spoke volumes to the level of loyalty to his betas.

“Derek, you know you, Erica and Boyd would be welcome in my pack any time. Should it come to that, you will have a place with us.”

The words were spoken quietly but Derek felt like they had been shot from a gun and straight through his heart. The overwhelming sense of relief crashed through him and he couldn’t help it when his emotions boiled over. He let out a choked laugh/sob as he sat back in his chair again, looking up to the ceiling to try and hide his wet eyes. Satomi stood and moved over to the chair next to Derek, reaching a hand up to cup the back of his neck, and she pulled him in, wrapping her other arm around the front of his shoulders. She may not be his alpha – yet- but it was obvious as hell that this man needed the comfort, the validation, and the support only an alpha could offer a beta. Derek let himself wiggle his head into Satomi’s neck and scent her as he tried to calm himself down, relishing the murmurs she was offering him. He had missed this, missed the comfort an alpha could provide. He finally sniffed hard and pulled back, wiping his face with the bar napkin.

“Shit, sorry about that,” he mumbled, feeling his face heat up. Satomi promptly cuffed him against the back of his head.

“Don’t you apologize boy, I’ve been wanting to do that to you for weeks. Anyone with a pair of eyes could see how much you needed that. Don’t be embarrassed about that. Hell I’ve seen you naked how many times since Talia whelped you?”

She let out a cackle of pure pleasure at the groan and red face that hit Derek, who promptly dropped his face into his hands. There was no hiding the burning ears though. Satomi yelled out for another round of drinks and two orders of chili cheese fries, finally getting a smile from the man in front of her. They chatted for a while and she couldn’t help but think that no matter what happened, she would take care of Talia’s boy.

They were halfway through the fries when Derek, sucking cheese off his finger, asked, “So what’s the deal with this other pack. Why do they hate us so much?”

Satomi twirled a fry through the chili before popping it in her mouth. She wasn’t sure how to respond to his question. She wasn’t in a position to divulge much information, the alpha had made that clear. “I’m not allowed to give details, it was part of the payment for their help. But there is a – _history_ \- between this pack and Beacon Hills. And obviously not a happy one. It will all be clear once they arrive. I’m sorry I can’t say more, but I promised.”

This sounded really ominous to Derek, and put him on edge. “But you believe they can help us? Is their price really that steep?” Satomi blew out a harsh breath that led to a chuckle. “Yes, I believe they can help us. Their alpha will be able to manipulate the Nemeton in our favor. As for his price – yes, it is extremely high. It took me some time to come to terms with it and the fact that I accepted it. But with any luck it will all be worth it.”


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I hope everyone is liking this so far!

 

 _When you feel my heat, Look into my eyes_  
_It's where my demons hide, It's where my demons hide_  


Stiles pushed the door to the motel room open, separating himself from the hot chick long enough to throw it closed and lock it before getting back to tongue-fucking the brunette with the rockin’ body. She giggled as he pushed her back into the wall then let out a moan as he latched on to her neck, sucking a hickey into her skin.

“Aw yeah babe, right there – fuck that’s hot!” She moaned as Stiles moved to the other side. He ran his hands up her ribs, pulling the hem of her barely there top with them before finally pulling the halter top off. She wore no bra and he didn’t hesitate before he cupped her tits, squeezing them and rubbing his thumbs over her nipples. The woman, Cassie? Carrie? Hell he couldn’t remember if he even asked her name, sucked in a breath as she pushed into his hands.

“You like my tits baby?” she asked in a baby voice, biting her bottom lip. Stiles grinned at her. They were hot tits, even if they were fake. But who was he to argue? Tits were tits. He leaned down and with his eyes on hers he let his tongue out to flick over the pink nubs, pulling another groan out of her. She grabbed Stiles by the head, running her long red lacquered nails through his hair, pushing into him again when he sucked a nipple into his mouth hard. She began to let out keening sounds as he suckled, alternating between the two. Meanwhile his hands roamed backward and found the zipper to her tight skirt and made quick work of undoing it and sliding the leather garment down her legs.

“Ooh, you are slutty aren’t you? No bra, no underwear? Almost like you were looking to get fucked tonight hunh babe?” Stiles taunts as he kisses his way down a slim, toned stomach. He wedges a shoulder, making her spread her legs a little and dives in, slipping his tongue between her lips. She’s already wet and he can’t help but inhale her musky scent as he continues to tongue her clit before sucking on it hard and wrenching a long, loud moan from the woman.

“Oh god please, please, fuck me!” She screams as she comes, flooding his mouth. Stiles continues to suck her clit as she rides out her orgasm, her grip on his hair becoming borderline painful. When she looks down on him with glazed over eyes he nips the hard bud before working his way back up her body. He grabs her hands in one of his, holding them up above her head as he leans in for a filthy kiss, tongue diving in to her mouth so she can taste herself on him. He cups a breast with his free hand and kneads as he continues to suck on her bottom lip before pushing his tongue back in. He can feel her grinding in to his hips, wanting more, and he’s not one to disappoint.

He lets go of her hands to grip her hips, lifting her easily so that she can wrap her legs around him as he carries her to the bed. He lays her down and stands, admiring the view she makes laid out on the bed, naked save for a pair of black thigh highs and heels. He leaves those on because it’s sexy as hell with her hair fanned out around her. She begins to finger herself, teasing him as she gives him a sultry look. He grabs the back of his t-shirt with one hand, pulling it up and off.

“God, that’s hot,” the woman breathes. “I love the ink, it’s incredible.”

Stiles only grins back at her, a look that promises nothing but total and utter debauchery. He slowly unbuckles his belt then pops the button and zipper before pulling his pants and boxers down. He kicks his shoes off and steps out of the pants, his cock heavy and swollen. The woman’s eyes widen slightly when she sees his size and can’t help it when she literally licks her lips. Stiles wraps a hand around his cock, slowly pumping it, never taking his eyes off of her.

The woman sits up onto her knees and knee-walks to the edge of the bed towards Stiles, wrapping her hair around one shoulder. She runs her hands up his hips, tracing a tribal looking tattoo of a snake that curls around one side. Leaning in she licks a long, slow stripe up the bottom of his cock, from balls to tip, pulling a moan out of Stiles. Smiling, she does it again, tonguing under the swollen head that’s already leaking precum. Stiles runs a hand behind her head, cupping it and holding her hair out of the way as she swallows him down.

“Holy fuck, yeah, that’s it,” he grinds out as she begins to suck while her other hand cups his heavy balls and fondles them. She continues to suck and lick, squeeze and twist until he feels like he’s getting too close. He pulls out of her mouth, and she gives him a pout. “Sorry baby, but much more and this show will be over before it began. Besides, I think it’s time to fuck you. Hard.”

Her eyes light up as she drops her hands so that she’s on all fours, wiggling her ass and causing her tits to jiggle. Stiles cups both, tweaking her nipples as she lets out a moan. “Yeah, you are a horny bitch aren’t you? Turn around and give me your pussy. You want to be fucked like this? Huh?”

The woman says yes, begging Stiles for what he promises as she turns around to face the wall. Stiles runs his hands over her ass, noticing the little heart tattoo on the top of one cheek. He leans in and runs his tongue over it, his hands moving to her hips so that he can position her just right. The bed is the perfect height and he lines his cock up. Without any warning he pushes in to her tight heat until he’s balls deep. She cries out in bliss at the feeling and pushes back into Stiles. She feels like she’s been split open, his girth and length filling her up. Stiles begins to thrust into her, moderately at first, his hands gripping hips. He can’t help but run his thumb over the little red heart as his cock moves in and out, slick with precum and her own juices. He’d never fucked someone so wet before, it was incredible. When she cried out ‘harder’ he was only happy to oblige. He reached a hand down to grab a breast and began to pound into her, his hips pistoning into her and his balls slapping up against her clit.

The woman begins to make mewling noises and Stiles can feel her clenching around his cock, and he knows she’s close. He’s not too far behind her so he just fucks her as hard as he can, grunts escaping him as she keens with her orgasm, her whole body shaking with the force of it. She clenches on him so hard he feels his balls tighten up before they explode and he comes inside of her hard and long. He keeps fucking her until he’s completely spent and as he pulls out she goes boneless in a sex-induced stupor and falls face down on the bed. Stiles flops down next to her, trying to catch his breath as he comes down from his orgasm high. When his breathing finally evens out and he feels like he can stand up without passing out, he rolls over to find his bed partner sound asleep with a smile on her lips. He snorts in amusement, raising a hand to her face. He trails a thumb over her forehead, a glow following the path of his thumb. Tomorrow she would wake up knowing she’d met someone at the club and had the best sex of her life, but would find the details of just who provided it fuzzy.

He got up and quickly got dressed, making sure he had everything that belonged to him, then quickly left the motel. It was time to head back and face his shit-storm head on.

 

 

 

Derek couldn’t help the nerves running through him as he stood in the preserve with his pack on one side and Satomi’s next to them. Satomi stood quietly while Scott paced, his usual anger radiating from him. They were to meet the pack coming in to help them and Satomi felt meeting at the preserve would be best, rather than at either of the pack houses.

Derek stood towards the back, his ranking clear in where he stood, while Kira shifted nervously behind Scott. The other betas were spread out but all were fidgety with anxiety. Only Satomi and her pack seemed pulled together and calm, at least on the outside. Satomi had a hell of a poker face and Derek had always admired her for it.

“What the hell is taking them so long?” Scott spat out. Satomi took a slow breath in and out before answering him.

“Patience Scott. This pack has driven in from quite a distance. It’s to be expected they won’t be here right on the dot.” She had barely finished when the wolves could hear the sound of engines making their way through the preserve. Everyone stood a little straighter in anticipation, Derek included. Part of him wanted to stand straight and proud, the other part wanted to tuck tail and hide in shame for his pack.

A couple of minutes later and four SUVs made their way up towards the packs. The windows were all tinted and the sunlight hit the windshields just right so that the drivers and passengers weren’t clearly visible. Derek was anxious to see who stepped out, who was here to help them despite their apparent hatred for his pack. The doors of three of the SUVs opened and members of the Aonghus pack stepped out and faced the McCall and Satomi packs. They looked strong and confident and battle-ready, but Derek didn’t recognize any of them. A mixture of men and women, all wearing dark clothes and looking incredibly strong. The fourth SUV remained closed. Derek could see the driver sitting there, one hand flopped over the steering wheel. It looked like he was speaking to the passenger, a woman, but that was all Derek could make out. Finally the doors opened and the rest of the pack emerged. The driver was the last to exit the car and when he did Derek couldn’t help the whine that escaped his throat as he all but hit the ground on his knees.

“Are you fucking kidding me??” Scott yelled, looking between Satomi and the newcomer. “Since when is he a wolf??”

Stiles walked confidently up towards Scott but kept his distance. His eyes were cold as ice as his pack flanked him. His face held a disgusted sneer, as if he’d just stepped in dog shit.

“Get the fuck out of my territory Stilinski! You are not welcomed and neither is your pack!”

Stiles, for his part, remained silent, just settled back on his feet and crossed his arms, looking bored. He raised an eyebrow to Satomi with a look that said, ‘I’m here, aren’t I?’

Scott turned on Satomi, his eyes red and barely hanging on to his human form. “What is the meaning of this? How dare you bring this traitor into my territory!”

As Scott and Satomi argued Derek took in the sight of his former - boyfriend? Lover? He wasn’t sure anymore. All he knew was that it hurt to see him. He stood there, regally yet with a look of bored disdain. He wore black jeans and combat boots and a tight t-shirt that accentuated his shoulders. Derek could see tattoos running up and down both arms and one peeking up from the collar of the shirt. He looked strong, he'd definitely put on some muscle. He looked older but still held a slight boyish look that he probably worked to his advantage with both lovers and enemies. His arms spoke of brute strength in the lines of muscles, his forearms were corded yet not in a body-builder type look. He was just _strong_ looking. Long gone were the days of his being gangly and unsure of his long limbs. And then Satomi’s words came back to him. An alpha werewolf and a mage. _Oh my god_ , Derek thought, Stiles – Stiles was the alpha and mage. Derek opened his senses instead of trying to tamp them down and make himself smaller and he could feel the power radiating off of the man. Stiles wouldn’t have to flash his eyes for a wolf to know he was an alpha.

As it turned out Stiles was indeed flashing his eyes.

“You threatening my pack McCall?” He asked evenly but with a deadly edge to his voice. Derek realized Scott must have said something to get a reaction out of Stiles. Crimson eyes were zeroed in on Scott as Stiles dropped his arms and advanced on him before Satomi was able to get in between them and halt the aggression.

“I’m doing this as a favor to you Satomi, but I will not stand here and let this whelp insult my pack,” Stiles told her while maintaining a challenging stare at Scott. Derek noticed how the rest of Stiles’ pack had moved in around their alpha, all on alert and battle ready.

“You think you can just waltz back in here after all these years, after everything you did?” Scott ground out, his own eyes bleeding red. “You were kicked out for a fucking reason Stilinski. Have you told your pack what you did? What you did to Allison? How you…”

Satomi roared hard in order to get Scott to back down. Derek was shaking and practically ready to wet himself. The sight of three alphas fighting and the anger and aggression pouring from them was overloading his senses and instinct. He couldn’t help but crouch down, to make himself smaller. Liam had sensed his distress and went over to try and calm him down. Erica and Boyd had moved closer to him but kept their attention on the alphas, just in case. Derek looked back at Stiles from under his lashes to see him standing tall and ready, but with a look of utter disgust and hatred on his face while Satomi and Scott had it out again.

“Shh, it’s ok Derek. I guess they need to work things out or something?” The young man said, a hand on Derek’s neck as he tried to offer comfort. Liam stood in front of Derek, acting as a buffer between him and the rest of the packs but he couldn’t help but wonder at the visceral reaction Derek was having. Derek felt himself shaking harder and getting clammy, and when his vision started to white out in starbursts he knew he was going to have an anxiety attack. Little whines began to escape him and Liam turned and crouched to face him, trying to calm him down. Erica and Boyd, who looked just as stricken, then moved to stand in front of Derek and Liam to offer support.

The rest of the pack began to notice but didn’t know what to do, most wanted to go and comfort Derek but at the same time were terrified of what Scott would do if they moved.

“I-I can’t, can’t be here. Hur-hurts too much. T-To see him,” Derek stuttered out as his teeth began to chatter. Liam wasn’t sure what was going on, but he figured this other alpha was the cause of his attack. “Who? The other alpha? What did he do to you?” Liam asked, feeling righteous anger overcome him. He stood and turned but shrank back when he saw Stiles striding towards him, eyes still red and face angry.

Stiles came up and his eyes widened when he caught sight of Derek hiding behind Liam. Derek whined and immediately bared his throat to Stiles, eyes downcast and body shaking and letting out a quiet ‘Alpha’. Stiles nostrils flared in surprise at the scent meeting him.

“D-Derek?” Stiles’ face suddenly went from angry to a whole range of emotions within a fraction of a second, and only Erica and Boyd caught the softly uttered, “omega?” He narrowed his eyes and for a second Liam saw something pass over his face, almost like some lost memory coming to light before being forcefully squashed. As fast as it happened it was over and the look of disdain was back on his face.

“Fucking pathetic,” he snapped out as he then turned and strode back to his pack before turning to address the crowd. It was only Erica and Boyd who caught the fleeting slamming of hurt, pain and longing that flashed over Stiles.

“My pack and I are here as a favor to Satomi to help deal with your problem. I will give you one more chance to play nice, McCall. We will meet again to go over a game plan. If you so much as hint at aggression, insult, or otherwise piss me off, I will pack up and go back to where we came from and leave you to your deaths.”

Stiles didn’t wait for any kind of response as he nodded to his pack and they all piled back into their cars. He could hear the other two packs break out in arguing, some were mad, some were scared, but he honestly didn’t care. He closed his door and slid the key into the ignition before pulling out of the clearing and following the other pack cars back out of the preserve.

Scott was in a rage, which was nothing new to his pack, and he turned to yell at everyone present. “Everyone, back at my house NOW.” Scott didn’t bother to see if anyone followed, he just stormed off to his own car, Kira following like an obedient puppy behind its master. The rest of the pack began to head to their cars, some throwing concerned looks towards Derek. Those who began to head over to him were stopped by Satomi with a shake of her head. Satomi sent her pack home, but stayed behind.

“Derek?” Liam asked, eyes scrunched in worry. Derek was breathing heavy, his eyes glazed over and small whines escaping. Liam was trying to pull Derek’s hands away from his head but Derek fought him, and when his body began to shake he started begging.

“L-Liam, leave me please. Let me go, letmegoletmegoLETMEGO!”

Before Liam could react Derek had thrown him off and charged off, racing away as he shifted. Boyd and Erica held Liam back, keeping him from racing after Derek.

“DEREK!” Liam shouted and tried to run after him, but Satomi had come up behind him and held him back with a firm, yet gentle, hand to his shoulder.

“Leave him pup. He needs solitude right now.”

Liam looked ready to burst with unhappiness. “But – but what? What the hell happened? Why did he react like that to that other alpha?”

Satomi gave the young man a sad smile, nodding to the other two wolves to leave. “I’m sorry, it is not my story to tell. But leave Derek for now. I will watch over him. You better head back to your alpha before you are missed.” Liam looked like he was about to object, his loyalties clearly lying with Derek this time, but there was also the undertone of fear of his alpha’s anger at not doing as he’d instructed.

“Go child, he’ll be okay.”

Liam looked back into the woods towards the direction Derek had fled, his eyes watery, before looking back to the older woman. He wiped his nose on his sleeve, then gave a small nod of his head and with one last look into the woods he dejectedly began to head back to his car, Erica and Boyd on either side of him.

Satomi sighed as she watched the young beta leave, head low and shoulders slumped. After his car pulled out she turned, knowing her second was close-by. The man came out and made his way over to his alpha.

“I don’t know how this is going to pan out Joseph. I honestly don’t.” Satomi turned to the handsome wolf standing next to her and patted his arm. “Head home Joe. I’m going to watch over my godson.” Joseph nodded his head before turning to leave. Satomi began to step through the forest floor in the direction Derek ran. She easily caught his scent and slowly followed it as it twisted and turned.

 

 

Ten minutes into her walk Satomi bent down and retrieved the clothes she found piled up next to a tree. Derek’s clothes. She let a grin take over as a sense of pride overtook her. She scented the air and knew Derek had shifted fully. She’d had no idea he could do it and despite the intense pride she felt a flicker of sadness that Talia wasn’t here to see it, and that apparently Derek felt he needed to keep it a secret. Derek was smart to keep it quiet, though. God knew what Scott would do if he knew Derek could do a full shift.

Satomi grabbed Derek’s jeans and t-shirt, not bothering with the rest. He’d come back for the shoes and whatnot after. She kept walking, following Derek’s direction and trying to ignore the chemo signals radiating through the woods. Misery, sadness – longing. They were potent scents.

_“…Those are my terms Satomi…”_

_“…Stiles, please. You ask too much…”_

_“…Take it or leave it…”_

Twenty minutes later and she slowly made her way to the creek bed, walking slowly but loudly enough to not startle the wolf lying on its side panting heavily. The area was drenched in the scent of utter misery, but this time tinged with the scent of shame. As she approached the wolf whined before rolling up in order to tuck his tail under him and belly scoot.

“Derek, stop it.” Satomi said, her own emotions swirling between sadness and anger. Derek stopped moving but left his tail tucked and throat bared. Satomi walked up to him before easily dropping to her knees and sitting back while at the same time hefting Derek liked he weighed nothing into her lap.

“You have nothing to be ashamed of child,” she whispered, stroking Derek’s face. Derek whined into the alpha’s lap, his eyes clenched shut. Satomi tried to filter the emotions wafting off the other wolf. While in wolf form she knew Derek would not be able to hide his emotions as well as when he was in his human form, and she tried to sooth him.

“I’m so sorry I couldn’t tell you. He made me promise not to tell anyone in your pack it was he who was coming. I’m sorry I could not prepare you for this,” she told him as she ran one hand over the thick fur while the other cupped his head. Derek still panted heavily and the whines had quieted, but Satomi could still feel the shame and despair radiate from him.

“I must confess, your reaction was much more severe than I was expecting. I believe you and I need to have another conversation so that you can tell me the whole story this time, pup.” Because based on what she had witnessed back in the clearing, whatever had happened between Stiles, Derek and Scott was much worse than what Derek had told her.

And if this whole thing was going to work, she needed to know everything.


	4. Chapter 4

_I took a walk on a Saturday night,_  
Fog in the air,  
Just to make my mind seem clear  
Where do I go from here?  
I see my breath pushing steam through the air,  
Shaking hands run through my hair,  
My fears, where do I go from here?  
  


* * *

 

 

_“_ _Why the hell would he want to see you, you fucking asshole?! He’s so disgusted by you he left! He can’t even look at you! And neither can I!”_

_Stiles felt his chest seizing at Scott’s words. This, this couldn’t be happening, he thought. “S-Scott, dude you have to believe me! It wasn’t me!! I would never…”_

_“GET OUT! You are not pack! In fact, you never were! Just the god damn human that screws everything up! I’m always having to protect you, you’re weak! You really think he wants someone who’s weak??”_

_As if to reinforce Scott’s horrible accusations Stiles was unable to help the tears that escaped as he looked dumfounded at his best friend. His best friend who was screaming these horrible, horrible words at him._

_Not pack…_

_Weak…_

_He doesn’t want you anymore…_

_Traitor…_

Stiles slammed a flat hand onto the steering wheel hard enough to warp the plastic slightly before pulling the SUV off the side of the road and roughly pulling to a stop.

He let out a yell as he hit the wheel again, barely restraining himself from ripping the arm of his second off when she reached over to try and calm him.

“Stiles?”

“No, not now. You know what? You drive back, I’m going to run. I can’t do this right now,” he ground out as he threw the door open to his car and jumped out. His second jumped out, running around the front and yelling at her alpha.

“Wait! Are you ok to…”

Stiles cut her off as he paced. “We’re fine, we left McCall’s territory about five minutes ago. Just go, get everyone back. I need to run this off.”

Before she could respond any further Stiles had transformed into a beautiful white wolf, his clothes disappearing with a slight crack of air. And like a shot he was gone, tearing up forest floor. She let out a long breath of air, making a noise as her husband came around and wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

“He gonna be ok Jess?” Callum asked. She gave him a wan smile, then shrugged. Who the hell knew, she thought. Only Jess and Callum knew the story of what had gone down between the McCall pack and Stiles. “Yeah, I’m sure he will. No amount of preparing for this has helped I guess, once he was actually confronted with his old pack. I’m sure he’ll be fine.”

She gave Callum a kiss and hopped back into the SUV as Callum waved a hand to tell the rest of the pack to head back out. Jess sent a quick prayer to the gods to watch over their alpha before she too pulled back out onto the road and headed back to where the pack was stationed.

 

Stiles ran hard for a few minutes before stopping, breathing hard. He paced around in a circle before letting out a howl of frustration into the air. He knew the other pack would probably hear it, but at this point he didn’t give a damn. He thought he’d been ready, ready to see them. He’d projected the image he wanted, had his emotions tamped down and crammed into a tiny, impenetrable box, but the truth was it had almost broken him to see his old pack. To see the man who used to be his best friend, his brother from a different mother – to see him still so full of hatred. And when he caught Derek’s scent that had been it, he couldn’t do it. He’d had to leave. His emotions were at war with each other. The hatred for Scott and Derek warring with the despair of what was once, now gone. To see Derek slinking to the ground practically belly up. What the fuck had that been about?? Derek wasn’t omega, the last time he’d seen Derek he’d been the Alpha of the pack, so how the fuck had that happened?? And why the fuck did he even care? They kicked him out. Told him he was no longer pack, never had been.

_Weak…_

_Human…_

_Traitor…_

He growled low in his throat, willing the emotions back into their little box but they wouldn’t budge. His memories of him and Derek came rising to the surface unbidden. Memories of laughter, loving, finally feeling whole. The massive hole in his heart that he’d spent years trying to fill was suddenly cracking back open, and Stiles could not deal with that pain again. Being shot with wolfsbane would never hurt as bad as that hole. He’d been shot, cursed, broken and bloodied, lost the most important person in his life and none of it compared to the pain of a broken heart. He’d spent five long years patching that hole up and within minutes it had all burst right back open. The scent that had come from Derek wafted back into his memory, making Stiles whine low in his throat. It had been so unexpected and surprising he’d had no way to even deal with it and he’d simply turned and walked away.

He continued pacing before deciding to continue his run. He would handle this as he often did. He would find a place with alcohol and a guy or gal looking for a quick fuck. He’d be able to laser his focus on providing someone with the best sex of their life and off of how horribly broken he truly was.

He ran until he reached the edge of the woods, sniffing the air and scenting along the border until he found what he was looking for. He let himself shift back into his human form, sensually sluffing off his wolf. He snapped his fingers and he was fully clothed in a look that would more than likely attract the kind of person he was looking for before uttering the command to drop the spell he’d been using to mask himself from sight. He ran a hand through his hair and smirked when he walked up to the bar and caught the eye of a tall, handsome blonde guy wearing leather pants and a tight t-shirt.

 

Much later that evening Stiles made his way into the hotel the pack was staying in. He swiped his key card and entered his room and then immediately went over to the door that connected his room to the room his second and her husband were staying in. He knocked and waited until Jess told him it was open before pushing his way into the room. She was sitting at the small desk working on her laptop and Stiles went over before wrapping his long arms around her shoulders from behind, laying his head atop hers.

“I’m sorry Jess. Sorry for running off,” he whispered. Jess turned in her seat and pulled Stiles down to his knees so that he was eye level with her. Cupping his face in her hands she lay her forehead against his.

“It’s ok, we knew this would be hard. I expected as much, that you would need time to deal. No one thinks any differently of you, boss. They’re all worried, but no one is questioning you needing time.”

Stiles snorted to himself as he squatted in front of his beta. How he’d ended up with a pack full of such incredible betas was beyond him. He was so lucky to be surrounded by them all.

“Want to talk about it?”

Stiles swiped a hand over his mouth before moving back up to sit on the end of the bed, chewing a lip. “Not really, but something tells me that wasn’t really a question, was it?” He asked. Jess just smiled at him in the way that she had that said Stiles was not leaving the room until she said so. She was the only one who could out-alpha the Alpha, and she was the person Stiles trusted the most to keep him grounded. He trusted her implicitly and her friendship was the thing he valued the most in his life.

“Yeah. Well. Shit, I guess I just wasn’t as ready as I thought to see the pack.”

Jess smacked him across the thigh, then raised an eyebrow at her Alpha. “Really? That all?”

Stiles mock-glared at her, rubbing his thigh, then sighed hard. His hands began to fidget, his one tell around Jess that said he was shaken. “OK, so maybe not so much the pack in general. God Jess, what the hell? When I left Derek was the Alpha. Scott had come into his own powers but it was Derek’s pack. And, and now – what the fuck? He’s a fucking omega?? He practically pissed himself when I went over to him.”

Jess stayed quiet, letting Stiles jump and pace the room. She knew it was Derek that had set him off, knew that despite the story he told her of his split with the pack his love for Derek had never fully been quashed. So she kept her silence as he worked up the nerve to continue.

“When I left, well, I mean when Scott fucking kicked me out, I wasn’t a wolf. I didn’t have any super senses. No heightened hearing, no healing. No god damn sense of smell. When I caught his scent, the one beneath the stench of omega, I – it threw me, ok?”

“What scent was that?” Jess asked earnestly. She had no idea what Stiles had smelled. Right now she could smell everything coming off her Alpha, and when he finally sat down again and stared at the floor she sat next to him, grabbing his hand in hers. He looked like he was ready cry.

“When I went over there, when I saw him, my wolf reared up like it’s never done before. It was clawing so hard to get to the surface and it was screaming ‘mate’ at me. Mate! I mean, how fucked up is that?!”

“You still love him,” Jess said quietly, her heart breaking for her Alpha.

Stiles angrily wiped an escaped tear from his face.

“Jess, I’d had a crush on the man since I was sixteen. It took two years before anything ever happened. And when it finally did, I barely got any time before it was ripped away from me. Scott had made it clear that Derek no longer wanted me, that he felt the same way about me that Scott did. So how fucked up is this?”

Jess had to agree, it did seem royally fucked up. All she could do was pull Stiles into a hug and hold him for a while. Finally, after a few minutes she pulled back and gave him a kiss.

“Look, we’ll figure this out. I’m not sure how, but we’ll find a way, ok?”

Stiles just nodded at her, there wasn’t much else to say.

“Good. Now, go take a shower. You reek of sex and weed and it’s nasty as hell.”

Stiles finally smiled and let out a chuckle as he good naturedly pushed her over onto the bed and stuck his tongue out at her before hopping up to go shower.

“That’s my bad ass Alpha,” she joked.

 

 

Derek’s head popped up when he heard a wolf’s howl far, far out in the distance. From here there was no way to distinguish who it came from, but he could read the faint sadness in it. He thumped his tail on the ground in sympathy before turning to look up at the old alpha sitting with him. When she gave him a certain look Derek knew he’d used up his time to hide in his fur, and it was time to face the music. He knew she wanted the details, and she deserved to have them. Derek wished with all his might however that he could avoid this.

He climbed off of Satomi’s lap, head still hanging as he began to shift back. Satomi stood and placed his clothes at her feet before turning her back to offer him a modicum of privacy as he completed his shift and dressed. When she could hear the zipper being pulled up she turned back before walking over to sit on a log. Derek took a moment to compose himself before joining her.

“Talk to me child.”

Derek let out a watery breath. He’d never told anyone what had really happened except for Boyd and Erica, and really they only knew because they had been with him at the time. He felt his jaw clench in refusal to talk, not wanting to rip open this wound. This wound that was as painful as the one when he lost his family. Worse than Paige, worse even then what Kate did to him. He tried to begin, only to stop, swallowing hard. He couldn’t do this. He couldn’t dredge all of this up, all this pain and misery, and for what? Maybe this pack, and him especially, deserved whatever fate awaited them.

Satomi placed a hand on Derek’s neck, offering him a calmness that she possessed in spades. She could feel Derek shudder at her touch slightly before some of the tension left his shoulders. However it didn’t prevent the tears that slid from his eyes as he sucked in a breath and looked off into the woods.

“I, uh. I was in love with Stiles. I had been almost from the moment I had first seen him in the woods right after Scott was bit. At first he was this annoying kid, but he grew on me. I began to feel differently towards him but had always kept my distance and tried to keep him at arms length. He was the Sheriff’s kid and younger than me. But then, as the years went on there was no denying my feelings and I began to realize he felt the same way. We began kind of testing the waters his senior year but it wasn’t until after he turned eighteen that we really did anything. Everything was great. We were enjoying a new relationship, I was happy. Happier than I had been in a long time.

Then, then we got attacked. By that coven of witches. We were getting our asses kicked. I had traveled to visit the MacNamara pack with Boyd and Erica to get help. They had witches in their pack that we thought could help us.”

Satomi nodded, she remembered that coven. She hadn’t worried too much about it because the Hale pack was strong and she knew Derek would be able to sort the threat out. At the time her territory had been further away. It was only in the last couple of years that she had expanded her territory closer to the old Hale lines.

“So uh, when I came back, it was a giant clusterfuck. Allison was dead and all Scott would tell me was that Stiles had killed her. Then he started in on how Stiles had betrayed us and wanted us all dead. That in order to save the rest of the pack Scott had kicked him out, exiled him out of the territory. He was over the top. The accusations were unreal.”

Derek hung his head, looking at the dirt and leaves between his feet, replaying that day in his head. God it hurt so fucking bad. The utter disbelief, the dread, the feeling of being gutted. Walking in to find a pack member dead, most of the others injured and Stiles gone.

“Allison and Scott were a thing. She was all he could talk about. I had noticed how his friendship with Stiles had begun to suffer because he was so enamored with her. Hung on her every fucking word and action. I guess when she’d been killed he went off the deep end. I still have no clear idea what the hell happened those days I was gone. But I had not expected that.

I looked for so long, to find him. Tried everything. No one knew where he was. Where his dad was. No one at the Sheriff’s station would tell me. I felt like I had died. Like someone had sunk their claws in and ripped my damn heart out.”

Derek was quietly crying, no sounds coming from him, just the steady stream of tears falling into the leaves at his feet. Satomi kept her hand on his neck, her heart breaking for the young man. She knew what it was to lose the love of your life. She’d lost her husband back during the war and she’d never truly recovered from it. One didn’t simply move on, not as a wolf. There was only one true love for a wolf.

“He was your mate, wasn’t he,” she asked. It wasn’t so much a question as it was a statement. Derek cradled his face into his hands as his shoulders shook, not able to answer the question she knew the answer to.


	5. Chapter 5

_Can I clear my conscience,_ _If I'm different from the rest_   
_Do I have to run and hide?_   
_I never said that I want this,_ _This burden came to me_   
_And it's made it's home inside_

 

Stiles calmly walked into the diner and immediately made his way to the back of the large dining area where Satomi and some of her betas were waiting. He was trailed by his own betas and noted that McCall and his pack had yet to arrive. One of Satomi’s lower level betas owned the diner and offered it up as a meeting place, keeping it closed from the public to offer them much needed privacy. It was also located on Satomi’s territory and she’d hoped that not being in McCall’s would help ease Stiles somewhat.

Satomi offered the young man a smile and a nod of her head in greeting as the other alpha took a seat across from her, his betas following by taking seats on either side. Despite the table being round Stiles had managed to take seats that would force Scott to divide his pack into the two sections left open between Stiles and Satomi. McCall would automatically be at a disadvantage, and Stiles knew it judging by his slight smirk.

“Alpha Aonghus, thank you for joining us. I hope this meeting will be more productive for you,” Satomi said in greeting. “I hope you don’t mind but I had them begin cooking up a variety of foods for us to nibble on as we talk.” Deep down Satomi liked and admired the wolf in front of her. She had always had respect for the lone human in the Hale pack, the boy who could run with wolves and not only keep up, but flourish despite his humanity. When he had left the pack he had contacted her to ask permission to stay in her territory for a few days while he sorted out a new place to go. She had readily agreed with the promise that Stiles would remain in touch with her. She had promised complete and utter secrecy in her communications with the boy. When he had been turned, and then received the alpha powers, it had been Satomi that Stiles had turned to for support and advice.

“Oh please, cut the formal shit and call me by my name,” Stiles chuckled at the older woman. Despite his time as an alpha, it still felt weird at times to be referred to by his title, and especially by the woman in front of him. Beneath the wolf and the alpha eyes, he was still Stiles Stilinski. But once Scott entered the room, he would be all business. There was no room for anything less than the dominating and powerful Alpha he now was.

“You think McCall will listen this time?” He asked, taking the time to arrange the glass of ice tea the server had just set down in front of him, offering her a smile in thanks. Satomi waited as the rest of those present were also served their beverages before answering.

“If Scott is smart, and I have to believe he is, then he will listen. He must. I’m afraid neither of our packs is strong enough to win this fight. He knows this, he just refuses to admit the truth to himself.” Satomi took a sip of her coffee, watching the young man in front of her. Stiles was looking down at his hands as he twisted the straw wrapper into a tight coil. She couldn’t help but take in a long, quiet breath, rolling the various scents around her tongue. Stiles had so many unique scents. The usual earthy scent of most wolves who lived in regions such as Beacon Hills, but there was also the spicy tang of his magic, the bitter scent of cigarettes and sex, the ozone-like scent of his immense power. But deep, deep down she could just make out the sickly smell of his grief. For despite the circumstances of his leaving the Hale/McCall pack and the animosity that surrounded that event, there was the deep despair of missing his first pack and his friends. No amount of hate or acrimony could ever really break the bond that is a wolf’s first pack.

They made small talk until at last Scott McCall and his betas arrived. The burst of anger at seeing the available seats left to him was immediate, but Stiles let nothing show. There was no smug looks or smirks. He just looked him in the eyes and gave him a brief dip of the head in acknowledgement of his arrival. Scott took a seat between the two other alphas and left his betas to figure out their own seats. Stiles noticed right off the bat the looks of uncertainty the McCall betas possessed. He didn’t know them, they certainly weren’t original members of first the Hale, and then Hale-McCall pack. But these were not strong betas, in either physical or mental sense. Stiles could smell fear mixed in with the uncertainty and he wondered if the fear was a result of his presence, or something they held due to their own Alpha.

“Scott, thank you for agreeing to meet. I hope this time we can be more productive. I know the other day was a bit of a shock.”

Scott tore his bitter gaze from Stiles to meet Satomi’s face, an almost sub vocal growl leaving his chest. “Like I have a choice?” He snarled quietly. “According to you only this, this – _traitor_ – can help us.” Scott sneered at Stiles, but Stiles drew on the calm power of his betas and didn’t respond in any way. He knew he would be tested today, would probably end up wanting to rip Scott’s throat out, but he was above it. He was better than that. Better than Scott.

Satomi had put a hand up, cutting Scott off before he could nose-dive into another tantrum. “I know that due to a prior incidence your two packs are, in so many words, adversaries. But we all have to accept that we need the help of the Aonghus pack. They have the combined power of a strong Alpha and a mage, only one of two in existence. The only other known mage of this power is located in Eastern Europe somewhere. And you and I both know we are out of time if our packs have a hope in hell of surviving this latest threat.” At this she turned to Stiles. “Alpha Aonghus, please tell us what you need from us to help you get a starting point on our problem.” This time her use of his title was intentional.

Stiles nodded at her as he gathered his thoughts. “First thing that needs to be done is for me to make a visit to the Nemeton. I should be able to get a read on what magic is either being pulled from it or pushed into it. I understand you have several groups in the territory. Most are magic users but I’m told there is at least one other wolf pack nearby. I need time for my pack to scout this area thoroughly and without interference so that we can map out where each group is. I have non-wolf magic users in my pack who will be of use in determining what kind of magic is being used. So for now, we need a base-line before we can begin to lay out a plan to deal with them. Once that it done we need to find out what exactly it is they want. Do they just want the territory, do they want the Nemeton? Both? We need to know that.”

Satomi nodded in agreement while Scott bristled and snorted. Stiles just shrugged at him as if to say, ‘this is what needs to be done, take it or leave it.’

“I understand I am an unwanted wolf in your territory Scott, but you must let my pack work unmolested if we are to succeed. I harbor no intentions other than to discover what is going on here and to help. After we rid this territory of the threats, you will never see me again.”

Scott glared at Stiles as his anger grew. Anger at their past, anger at needing him now, but he knew he was screwed. He nodded his head curtly before snarling at Stiles. “Fine. Do what you have to and I expect to never see your sorry ass ever again after this is over.”

 

 

Stiles ran through the perimeter of the woods, muzzle alternating between rooting through the wet mess of leaves and riding high in the air, scenting anything he could catch. Around him were Jess, his second and Anne Marie, one of his betas who was actually a witch. He wasn’t getting anything that actually rose any alarms out here. He was catching faint wisps of creatures that did not belong to the McCall pack, but nothing to raise his hackles at. Yet.

And what a memorable experience earlier in the day had been. Stiles had insisted his pack be allowed to scent each member of the McCall pack so that they could rule out any scents that belonged to them. Scott, naturally, had been livid, but one quirk of the eyebrow had been enough to silence him. It had been hard scenting Erica and Boyd. Boyd had refused to look at him, but Erica had burst into tears as soon as he started and had scented him in turn. It had been very awkward and very surprising. He wasn’t sure what to make of it but Boyd had shut her down before she could say anything with a curt shake of his head at her. He tried not to let it affect him, but it was hard. He kept a cold, distant look in his eyes that spoke of his nonchalance in seeing them. He moved on to the next wolf. Actually, a werecoyote, according to his senses. She seemed familiar, but he couldn’t place it. Her scent seemed to pull at something in his hind brain, but when he looked at her and got a sneer in response, he just mentally shrugged and moved on to the next person. Each of his betas scented the McCall members and within minutes were ready. The pack had already scented Satomi’s members so they were ready to go. Stiles couldn’t help but notice one McCall beta very much missing from the get together. Stiles hated to admit to himself it probably wouldn’t be an issue scent-wise.

So they made their way through the woods, circling the outer edge before reining inwards slightly and beginning another sweep. For the second pass through Stiles shifted back and put on what his betas joking referred to as his ‘magic goggles’. He had to admit, being an Alpha wolf and a mage was pretty fucking cool at times.

He pulled his phone out of his pocket and sent a group text to his pack letting them know his group was beginning a second pass. The pack was staggered so that each group would overlap each other so that if the group before them missed something, the one coming behind would catch it. It would also prevent any enemies from attacking from their backs. Stiles was confident in his abilities to not expect to miss anything, but it was better to be safe than sorry.

“OK ladies, let’s move inwards.”

 

Two hours later and Stiles had basically pinpointed where each of the trespassing groups had been or were. The scents of the wolf pack was faint enough that it told Stiles they were not camping in the woods, which would be smart. Any pack living nearby would’ve been routed out by the McCall pack. Hopefully. It was hard to say. Stiles hadn’t seen them in action yet but he was not feeling the vibe that Scott and his betas ran a tight, well-oiled group. He did locate the witches meeting area where they were performing locating spells. It seemed they were staying somewhere out of the territory as well.

While not pinpointed Stiles had narrowed down the area the harpies were nesting and a probable location for the trolls den. The good news, if any, was that that seemed to be the extent of the trespassers.

What caught his attention though was the possible indication of a second pack scouting the area. Stiles had been able to pinpoint the scent of an outside Alpha that he assumed belonged to the pack they knew about. But during his sweep he kept picking up on faint hints of possibly another Alpha. He couldn’t tell if this other Alpha had a pack or if it was a rogue, and even then he wasn’t a hundred percent sure he was catching the scent of an additional Alpha. He decided he would need to keep searching to see what he could find.

Stiles had sent most of his pack home, no longer needing them, but he kept Jess and Anne-Marie, the witch with him.

“I need to talk to the Nemeton. I’m not sure how long this will take, but you guys keep watch for me, yeah?”

Both women nodded and began to wander off in opposite directions, but within sight of their Alpha. Stiles let his magic flow from him, his eyes turning a deep dark red before mixing with a dark purple. His tattoos began to glow as he read the magic in the area, determining where the Nemeton was. When he brushed up against the warm power radiating from it, he asked its permission to approach and seek an audience. The feel of being caressed from head to toe was so peaceful and he let his arms reach out to his sides, his head tilted back as he let the Nemeton determine his purity of motive. When it was satisfied images appeared behind his eyelids, pointing the way. He silently asked that his two watchers be allowed to follow him to protect him from harm. After receiving the Nemeton’s response and feeling the warmth recede Stiles let his arms fall back down and opened his eyes. He turned and spotted his betas and nodded his head to them.

“You may follow up to ravine only. I will be protected from there,” he said. Both women nodded back in understanding and began to follow their Alpha.

Stiles made his way easily through the woods, knowing exactly where to go as if he’d been here a thousand times before. The last time he’d seen the Nemeton he’d been a mere human teenager with no understanding of how truly powerful the tree had been. Now he was a man grown, with powers to rival those of any supernatural in the world. No longer was he the bumbling, hyperactive boy who tripped over his own feet and ran into walls. What a difference a few years made, he thought. He’d gone from hopeless boy to first a mage, and then, albeit unwillingly, Alpha wolf. He tried not to think of his past too much, the incidents surrounding his becoming a wolf were still painful to reflect on. Hopefully one day he could pull those memories up long enough to banish them. But for now, for now he kept them wrapped up tightly in a box that rested next to his box of Hale pack memories. Not to be thought of.

He climbed up the small hill and found himself looking down at the ravine. He could feel the magic pulse here and turned to tell his betas to keep watch from here, before skidding down the slope and hopping across the small trickle of water running through. He let his senses open, welcoming in the power of the Nemeton. It always amazed him the power that came from nemetons. The Vancouver Nemeton was powerful, but none of the ones he’d visited while training had ever had the amount of power as this one in Beacon Hills. He was momentarily knocked to his knees as he felt the Nemeton open up to him completely, showing him just how powerful it was. A shiver of respect rippled down his spine as he bowed his head, acknowledging it. The Nemeton was telling him he was a mere bug to be stepped on compared to itself, should Stiles decide to have impure motives.

When he felt the power close up somewhat he got back to his feet and continued his trek. He walked for another ten minutes before coming into the clearing before sighting the massive tree. He stopped and admired the sight. He moved in closer to what he felt was a respectful distance before stopping and bowing his head again. He let his magic flow as he closed his eyes and spoke.

“Thank you, for allowing me an audience.”

He felt the wind pick up and swirl around him, leaves flying through the air in a warm breeze. The feeling of being caressed enveloped him again, his skin tingling with the Nemeton’s touch. The smell of wet leaves filled the air, the sounds of the woodland creatures began to dull and then the Nemeton spoke to him, the words echoing in his head.

_“Welcome child, I’ve been waiting for you.”_

__


	6. Chapter 6

_When the hour is nigh_   
_And hopelessness is sinking in_   
_And the wolves all cry_   
_To feel they're not worth hollering_   
_When your eyes are red_   
_And emptiness is all you know_   
_With the darkness fed_   
_I will be your scarecrow_

 

Derek had refused to go to where the packs met up. The thought of seeing Stiles again was too much, and as it was he was a shaking mess. God his mother must be shitting herself, he thought. Once an Alpha and now just a puddle of piss as a wolf. The Hale name was well and truly dead, thanks to him. He sat in his room on top of his bed, his legs pulled up and his arms wrapped around them, head tucked down. It was a comfort position for him, it made him a small target. He just rocked himself gently and tried to will away the memories, the pain and the hurt. Seeing Stiles in the forest had been the final nail in his coffin of emotions. All those years searching for him, scouring every dead-end lead, and then there he is on his fucking doorstep.

Sometime much later Erica and Boyd had come back into the loft. Boyd had stayed in the entry way but Derek could hear Erica run into her room crying hard and slamming her door. Derek could hear Boyd move into the kitchen and sounds of him probably preparing dinner. Erica was sobbing in her room. Derek stayed where he was until she began to slow down and hiccup slightly and then slowly unfolded himself, stretching out the kinks from being in the tight ball for so long. He padded out of his room and moved over to Erica’s, rapping slightly on her door before going in. She was laying on her bed, face pressed wetly into her pillow that she was hugging fiercely. Derek said nothing, just climbed in behind her and wrapped his arms around her, tucking his head in between her shoulder blades and offered her whatever comfort he could.

It took a while before Erica could speak, and it was filled with heartache.

“Jesus Derek, I don’t know what to do. He was right there. He scented me. And he looked at me with these dead eyes like I was a piece of shit he’d stepped in and I tried to say something to him but Boyd wouldn’t let me and then he just turned away and walked off like I was nobody.”

She sputtered her words out in one giant run on word vomit, and Derek’s heart clenched for his friend. Stiles had always liked Erica, always calling her Catwoman. To be so cold toward his old friend was painful to hear, and as Erica began to cry again he just hugged her tighter, his own tears falling. Unfortunately he could offer no words of comfort, so he just held her and hoped it was enough.

A little while later Boyd quietly came in and grabbed a blanket, then slid in behind Derek and threw the blanket over all three of them. He murmured that when they were hungry there was food, but when neither answered he laid his arm over Derek and Erica and tried to comfort the only two important people in his life while trying to block out the events of the day.

None of them ended up eating that night, choosing to seek comfort in each other and soothe their broken hearts.

* * *

 

Stiles sat back on his heels, trying to get more comfortable. His hands lay loosely on his thighs and he let out a breath, forcing out any tension along with his breath.

“You’ve been waiting for me?” He asked.

_“A long time child. Seven years I have followed you. Seven years I have waited for you to return.”_

“But why? Why me?” Stiles honestly couldn’t fathom why the Beacon Hills Nemeton would be waiting for him.

_“Because you are the chosen. You will return balance to the territory. Your territory.”_

Stiles felt the tension he’d released rev right back up into his muscles.

“Come again? This is McCall territory, not mine. Mine is up north.”

_“No. Never meant to be McCall territory. Unbalance, strife. Un-natural. This is Hale territory. Hales have protected me for centuries. Balance must return. You will return it.”_

Stiles let his eyes open at this last bit of revelation. What the hell did the Nemeton mean? How could this be his territory if it was the Hales?

“You must be wrong. I am not a Hale. Never have been, never will be. Although I will agree with you on the subject of McCall.”

A sudden, strong wind blew through the clearing almost knocking Stiles backwards. He could tell instantly the Nemeton was unhappy with his words, but he was clueless as to why.

“Forgive me, I meant no…”

_“YOU ARE THE CHOSEN.”_

“I don’t understand…”

_“YOU ARE THE CHOSEN.”_

Stiles let out a breath of frustration. He had no idea what the hell was going on. He’d simply come to get a read on the Nemeton to find out what was going on in Beacon Hills. Perhaps he needed to change the subject.

“I am trying to discover the motives for those who trespass here. To protect you as I protect the others. Can you help me?”

_“Others come to take my power. Come to pollute that which is good. Unbalance. Strife. You must heal territory. Return to rightful protector.”_

“Return to the Hales? There are no Hale Alpha’s left.”

_“You. You are Hale.”_

Stiles shook his head, not understanding. He wasn’t a Hale. The only Hale left here was apparently an omega. Was Derek supposed to still be an alpha?

“Please, I don’t understand. Derek Hale is an omega, there are no Hale Alphas anymore.”

This time the wind that blew through flung Stiles back several feet and continued to swirl causing a tornado of leaves, dirt and various other detritus to swirl into a small twister.

_“YOU ARE HALE. YOU ARE CHOSEN.”_

Before he could ask again the wind gathered strength, the air pressure rising so quickly Stiles’ eardrums felt like they might rupture before the wind suddenly streaked at him, hitting him with the force of a hurricane. As it passed through him, the debris somehow skirting to move around him instead of hitting him, the inner thoughts, feelings and images of the Nemeton flew through him and enlightened him to exactly what the Nemeton was trying to tell him.

As suddenly as it had hit him the wind was gone and left Stiles rolling onto his knees to vomit harshly onto the ground. He got up onto his knees, shaking furiously and sweat pouring down his face as he panicked hard.

“Oh my god. _Ohmygodohmygodohmygod_.”

He couldn’t breathe, the weight of what he saw too overwhelming. He tried to wipe his face but his hands shook too hard as the first gut wrenching sob hit him. He couldn’t hold it in as his head flew backward and he yelled in utter despair, his scream twisting into a howl so gut-wrenching it was heard for miles in every direction.

It only took a couple of minutes for Jess and Ann-Marie to come racing into the clearing after hearing their Alpha howl out. Jess stumbled when she came up to Stiles and was close to hyperventilating from the emotions that rolled off of him. Never in her life had she felt such an all-encompassing, overwhelming deluge of emotions from one person, wolf or otherwise.

Ann-Marie -not being a wolf- couldn’t feel what Jess felt and was able to get right up to Stiles and grab him in a bear hug, murmuring a calming spell. Stiles still shook violently, his face red and splotchy as he continued to sob. Both hands were gripping his hair and pulling roughly, his eyes squeezed shut. Jess had only stumbled for a second before she too was wrapped around him, scenting him and trying desperately to calm her Alpha. His heart was racing too fast, even for him, and she was scared. She had no idea what had happened, if he’d been attacked or something had gone wrong with the Nemeton. She could smell no injury, at least physically, but it did nothing to calm her. All three of their cell phones were ringing, no doubt from pack members wondering why they’d been able to hear such an anguished howl from their Alpha. Jess grabbed her cell and swiped it open with one hand and sent a voice text to the pack.

_-Stiles is ok for now, will update in a minute-_

She honestly had no idea if he was indeed okay, but she didn’t want to deal with ringing phones just yet. She hit send and wrapped her free hand around Stiles while the two women just held him as tightly as possible. Stiles continued to rock himself, his shaking still severe but not as violent as Ann-Marie’s calming began to take effect. Another couple of minutes and he let go of his hair and wrapped his arms around Jess, his face buried in her shoulder as he sagged into her and cried.

It took almost fifteen minutes before Stiles had worn himself out to the point where he’d be able to talk, but Jess could tell he wouldn’t be. Or at least not willingly. But she still had to try. Stiles was her best friend, next to her husband. She pulled back enough to cup his face in both hands and look into his eyes. Stiles’ eyes were red-rimmed and filled with a hopelessness that broke her heart. Right then and there he looked so young, like the young boy she’d heard stories about. The scared human teenager who used his sarcasm and humor to make up for his lack of strength. He looked nothing like the take-no-shit Alpha werewolf she knew him to be, and the fact that he was allowing himself to be so vulnerable looking in front of two pack members scared her.

“Stiles, what the hell happened?” She asked, trying to wipe the tears from his cheek with her thumbs.

Stiles just looked at her, his amber eyes wide and slightly unfocused. Jess couldn’t tell if he was quite “there” with her or not so she just continued to look at him and hold his face in her hands until finally he began to focus back on her. A new set of tears rolled over his cheeks and he sniffed. He’d had a death grip on her shirt but now he let go long enough to wipe his face with his forearm. He picked himself back up and scooted over to lean against a tree, putting his back up against the trunk, trying to compose himself.

“I s-saw e-everything,” he stuttered out, clenching his eyes shut.

Satomi stood in the living room of McCall’s home with her pack and the McCall pack. She stood quietly while she watched the other Alpha pace back and forth. Despite her outward calm she was a little tense. When she had taken the call from Stiles earlier in the day he had sounded very off and jittery. He would tell her nothing about what he discovered on his patrols but if his demeanor over the phone was any indication she was expecting bad news. Scott, as usual, was oblivious to anything that wasn’t centered around himself. His pack stood off from him, not portraying the solid line of defense that most packs would. Even while hanging around her pack was always in a position to not only defend her, but the rest of their members. His betas were nervous and fidgeting. Derek was off in the back, watching everyone from downturned eyes.

It only took five or so minutes before they could hear the Aonghus pack cars arrive, and she listened intently as the SUVs pulled up and the engines were killed. Stiles wasted no time getting out and practically slamming his door shut as the rest of his betas exited their vehicles and strode into the house, the door having been left open for him. When he saw Scott there was a quick flare of intense rage before it was suddenly wiped away like it had never happened. Satomi narrowed her eyes as she tried to get a read on the young man, but other than an angry fire in his eyes there was nothing. However when Stiles caught sight of Derek, who was resolutely looking at the ground, his shield flickered again and Satomi was hit with a deep sense of grief.

“So? Did you actually discover anything out there, oh great mage?” Scott sneered at Stiles. Stiles zeroed his gaze in on Scott and a sadistic smile lit his face. He stalked up to Scott and before the Alpha could so much as blink he found himself raised off the ground, Stiles’ claws sunk deep into his throat as he pulled him up to eye level. Stiles leaned in so only Scott could hear him.

“I discovered _everything_ I need to know McCall.”

He tossed his former brother down onto his ass, snorting as he saw none of his betas even move in the direction to protect their Alpha, with the exception of one woman who made to move, then decided against it. It was only after Stiles had moved far enough away that Kira ran over to Scott to help him back up, but Scott only pushed her away with a growl.

Stiles looked over to Satomi and squared himself up, giving her an imperceptible bow. “Alpha Ito, I hereby rescind any payment from your pack to mine for our help here.” He turned his cold gaze to Scott. “I will be doing this one free of charge.”

Before Satomi could utter a word or ask what had happened that made Stiles change his mind about his payment (even if she was tremendously grateful), Stiles had turned to address both packs.

“After several hours of patrolling and meditating with the Nemeton, we now have an idea of what is going on. It seems sacrifices and rituals were performed on the Nemeton, causing a rift in the ley lines that resulted in the Nemeton broadcasting further than it naturally would. On top of that, the magic was corrupted, causing an imbalance in the magical fields and attracting outside groups. To supernatural groups they are seeing a beacon enticing them to come here, telling them the territory is weak and ripe for overtaking. Which it is. This territory is the weakest it’s ever been. There are no wards on the perimeters any more, which means you all had no idea every time someone from the outside came over the border. It’s a surprise your packs haven’t been decimated by now. The Nemeton has been weakened due to the rituals performed, with barely enough power to protect both of your packs.”

Stiles continued to explain how dire their situation was and Satomi couldn’t help but notice the furtive glances Stiles gave Derek as he spoke. Derek never once looked up, but it was clear he was listening.

“Where is your emissary?” Stiles asked, looking at Scott.

Scott snorted, a look of disgust on his face. “I banished him. I had reason to believe he was working against me.”

Stiles chewed his bottom lip as he looked at the Alpha. “Of course you did,” he muttered. “And you didn’t bother to find a new one?”

“We don’t need an emissary, we do fine without them!”

“Well actually, you _do_ , Scott! Otherwise your wards would still be active and you’d have been aware of the traffic in and out of this territory. There’s a good fucking reason large territories have emissaries, or at the very least pay magic users to keep the wards in good shape. Had yours been active any magic user could’ve read them and gotten information for you. Only a few of us are advanced enough to communicate with Nemetons to get the story, and you’re lucky you have one! Not all territories contain their own Nemeton!”

Stiles let the “you fucking idiot” go unsaid. He tapped into his methods for calming himself down. Now was not the time for his anger to get the best of him. He couldn’t help but look over at his former boyfriend who was still cowering in the corner. He noticed the young wolf and Erica and Boyd stood in front of him, as if acting as a human shield. The quick burst of anger that usually leapt up whenever he thought of Derek was instead replaced by a myriad of other, less volatile emotions. But all in good time, he thought to himself as he scanned the rest of the wolves in the room. He would deal with that issue later. Right now he needed a read on the McCall betas, needed to know who he could trust to help oust the invaders. He knew deep down he trusted Erica and Boyd. He may not have seen them in almost a decade but their scents rung true with him. The young pup – Liam – he wasn’t too sure about. He seemed to have the attitude, if the glare he was directing at Stiles was any indication, but he was young both in terms of his human years and his age as a wolf. He figured he’d been turned maybe one or two years ago. He seemed untried and perhaps weak, but he watched as he protected Derek and thought he’d be an asset.

The coyote was an interesting read. She was currently texting someone while periodically glancing around the room. She seemed in tuned with what was going on and Stiles could tell she’d been listening to him while she texted. She had a layer of feralness within her, and he wondered at her origins. He couldn’t tell who was born and who was bitten, but she struck him as having been a were for many years, if she wasn’t actually a born were. The others seemed weak, both physically and emotionally. The kitsune might be of value but Stiles felt uneasy about the way she cow-tailed to Scott. And Scott – he didn’t trust Scott one fucking bit.

“So what do you suggest we do then, since you seem to be all-knowing?” Scott asked.

Stiles nodded to Satomi, then nonverbally asked Scott if they could sit at the table. He didn’t feel like standing up and talking to the crowd like a history professor. When he merely shrugged Stiles wasted no time in moving over to the table, Jess and Ann-Marie following him and standing behind him. Satomi sat and her seconds stood behind her. Scott looked at them as he sat and saw no one moving to stand behind him so he huffed at Kira, and Kira scrambled to run and stand behind him, looking around nervously. Stiles just let out a snort at the patheticness of the situation.

He looked over to Jess who pulled out a large rolled up piece of paper and handed it to him. He unrolled it and flattened it out. Satomi looked over and could see it was a map of the two territories. Stiles began to place marks on the map with a pen he’d pulled out of his shirt pocket. He was marking various “X”s before looking up to Scott and Satomi.

“Ok, so here is where you have your squatters,” he said, pointing to the “X”s within the territory. “You have a coven of witches and some harpies and a troll couple. Over here,” he pointed to the other marks, “are the two wolf packs that have been staking you out but retreating to a neutral spot as their base camp.”

“Two packs?” Scott asked, for once no note of derision in his tone. “I thought there was only one pack checking us out.”

Stiles shook his head. “Nope, you’ve got two. If every member was there then they aren’t overly large packs, but they weren’t small either. I scoped out their scents from the Preserve and one them to outside the city lines to a motel. The second pack I can’t locate. I’m not entirely sure yet if it’s a rogue Alpha or a small pack, they’re hiding their scent, but I did catch it intermittently throughout the preserve. What I can say, is that this pack over here at the motel has been scouting you frequently and in force. This mystery Alpha, they’re taking a more distant approach. They’re scouting you very quietly, and it took me a while to pick up on them. They kept their scent down to the bare minimum and that’s probably why you didn’t realize they were here. They’re being much more methodical which could mean they’re a small pack and being cautious, or they’re incredibly smart and have a long term plan. They’ll be very much aware of the other groups here in the area.”

Most of the betas looked up at this information. Most looked worried. Malia, the coyote had her eyes narrowed as she looked right at Stiles. The kitsune, Kira, looked thoughtful.

“As for the trolls, from what I could gather you have a Danish troldfolk couple. They are all brawn and not so much brains, so they are the first group I will tackle. They’re relatively small and benign compared to their Nordic cousins so I can use my magic to encourage them to move on to wherever they came, and convince them this is not a good area to move into. They will put up a fight if they feel threatened, and in that case they become difficult to fight, so making it seem like a good idea to leave before that happens will benefit us all.

The harpies will be tough to evict. They’re vicious assholes to fight. We’ll need everyone onboard who can fight to deal with them.”

Stiles sat back, twiddling the pen between his fingers in a smooth movement that spoke of many years of practice, before looking up to scan the room. He forced himself to gloss over Derek, who was still refusing to look at anyone.

“The witches and the wolves will be the most difficult. I’m not going to lie. It will take some doing to beat them. The witches may not have the physical strength but they’re going to throw shit at you that you have no idea how to fight. Add to the mix our mystery guest and we have an unknown as to what they will be bringing to the fight”

Stiles levelled Scott with a stare. “You will have to have my back while I take lead on that group.”

Stiles could honestly say he didn’t trust Scott one bit to watch his back, and he realized how much risk he was taking. He looked over to Satomi, who nodded with a look on her face that told him she was reading his mind.

“We will have your back, Stiles, as well as those of your pack.” She turned to look at Scott who was scowling. “Won’t we, Scott.”

It wasn’t a question, and Scott knew it. He just nodded curtly but refused to say anything.

“Alright listen up, before we tackle these big groups, let me go get rid of the trolls. They’d be nothing much other than an annoyance but if they get into the middle of a fight with another one of these groups it could be a problem. The key here is to try and knock these guys out one by one. If they all catch wind we’re taking the offensive they may all decide to jump in at the same time, and then we’re screwed. So far you guys have been lucky in that they haven’t joined forces against you.”

With that Stiles rolled up his map, handed it over his shoulder to Jess, and nodded. “I’ll let you know once they’re gone.” He stood up, signaling an end to the meeting and nodded to Satomi before heading outside with his pack. He didn’t go far though. He veered off towards Scott who had the smarts to at least look worried for a split second before twisting his face into a sneer. Stiles walked up and leaned in to him, speaking lowly so only Scott would hear.

“I know you’re the one who opened the Nemeton with a spell to gain power. You made a sacrifice to it to up your power and take over this pack from Derek. You’re the reason this is all happening, and you’ll pay for that.”

Stiles took great pleasure in the sudden widening of Scott’s eyes and the hitch of his breath at Stiles’ words. He’d thrown the Alpha a curveball and set him on edge. Without waiting for an answer Stiles turned and walked purposefully out of the house and into his vehicle.

 

 

Satomi pulled her phone out of her pocket later that day and smiled at the caller ID. She swiped her thumb over it and answered.

“I had a feeling you would call me afterward. What can I do for you Stiles?” She asked happily.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this one's a bit longer and we get some information as to what has happened in Stiles' past.
> 
> Also, I just watched the trailer for S8 and I literally cried out loud when I saw *Derek* in there. OMFG JD has FINALLY done something right! Also stoked to see Jackson back, now we just need Isaac and things will be awesome! And if JD really wanted to make things perfect Stiles would dump Lydia and jump Derek pronto!!

_I've been around the world and never in my wildest dreams_  
 _Would I come running home to you_  
 _I've told a million lies but now I tell a single truth_  
 _There's you in everything I do_  
  


 

“What do you think she wants Derek?” Erica asked, for once not looking her usual self-confident. Any time they were in public she had on her trademark snarky grin- all confidence and bad-assery. But when it was just Derek and/or Boyd around, she felt safe enough to let her mask slip.

“I don’t know Erica. No clue. I just…” Derek wiped his hands across his face, looking somewhat nervous himself. “She said something about additional planning Stiles wanted her to do.”

Derek was jittery and nervous, a common enough trait for him lately, but right now it seemed amplified.

“What if Stiles is there Der?” She asked.

Boyd tried to stop her from asking, looking worriedly over at Derek.

“Then I’ll leave and you two can deal with it. I – I can’t be there.”

“But, don’t you want to see him? Maybe we could talk to him, find out…  
  
Derek slapped a hand down on the dining table. “No! I can’t Erica! I can’t! When he left, I was an Alpha! OK? Do you get it?? Look at me! Look at what a fucking joke I am! And it’s not even that I’m no longer an Alpha. I would give up my power a hundred times over to save my uncle again or you guys! Saving my uncle was worth it! But now?? Now I’m a fucking weak ass, sniveling little omega bitch who can do nothing more than whimper, submit and present my ass up in the air. I’m. A. Fucking. Joke! I took my family name and ran it through the mud. I lost my territory to an Alpha that, I don’t care what the legends say, is not a fucking “ _true alpha_ ” and ruined the pack I had built. And I can’t even stand up to McCall one bit. He has me so ground down under his heel its fucking pathetic. I’ve let everyone down…my family…my friends…”

At this Derek broke, kicking a chair so hard it flew across the room and shattered when it hit the wall. A picture frame with a pack photo in it came tumbling down, the glass cracking as it hit the wood floors. When Derek realized it was a photo of _his_ pack, he sat down hard on the floor and cried. Cried for everything he’d lost. His parents, brothers and sisters. Even his uncle who had taken off, never to be heard from again. Cried for his betas who left him. Cried for the man he’d loved and lost.

Boyd was the first to reach him, but Erica was right there with him. They each sat on a side of Derek and hugged him, and Erica tucked her nose into Derek’s neck.

“Derek, you will always be my Alpha,” Boyd said, surprising Derek with the fact the normally quiet man was actually speaking. “Always. Erica and I, we have your back, ok? So even if Stiles is there, we will protect you from him. We won’t let him hurt you.”

Derek sniffed, then wiped his face with his arm. He looked up at the mess he’d made, his eyes puffy.

“You guys don’t get it. Stiles was my mate. I knew it the moment I saw him in those damn woods all those years ago.”

He heard Erica gasp and Boyd’s arm tightened before releasing again. Erica moved in front of him, her eyes wide and watery, a hand over her mouth.

“Y-your mate?” She whispered.

Derek nodded, looking down at the floor as his heart squeezed. Satomi had been the only one to figure it out. He hadn’t told anyone, his relationship with Stiles had been so new and young. Hell, he hadn’t even told Stiles, knowing the human wouldn’t understand what it meant to be a mate. Not just a werewolf’s mate, but an _Alpha’s_ mate. And then he was gone, just like that, and a part of Derek died that day.

“Jesus Christ Derek,” Erica whispered again, realization sinking in. “How the hell? How the hell have you survived?” Legend, and stories, told that when a wolf’s mate died, the surviving mate didn’t last much longer due to a broken heart. And those that did, well, some went mad. His uncle had shown proof of that.

“This explains a lot,” Boyd said, his lack of verbosity making Derek just shrug.

“OK. OK, so look. We’ll go to this meeting, ok? You stay outside and if Stiles is there, we’ll let you know and then you decide what you want to do? OK?” Erica stood, pacing nervously. “I won’t let him hurt you Derek, I promise.” Derek just offered a wan smile to his former beta, appreciating the look of stoic determination she was putting on, knowing it was really just for his benefit. Derek, he wasn’t sure what the hell he felt anymore. After his outburst he just felt dead inside, surrounded by the usual feelings of unworthiness.

“Let’s just get this over with,” he said, climbing to his feet and dusting his jeans off. Head down he walked over to where his jacket hung on a wall hook and shrugged it on before letting himself out of the loft.

 

 

Stiles paced the small back room of the diner, Satomi sitting as she stirred sugar into her iced tea. And if she stirred said tea a little more rigorously than usual no one was stupid enough to bring her up on it. The fact she hadn’t cracked the glass was testament to her control over the anger she was feeling.

“Am I doing the right thing?” Stiles asked, suddenly stopping the erratic movements.

“Only you can answer that.”

Stiles just grimaced at the older woman. “Fuck you and your old world wisdom Satomi,” he griped as he continued pacing again.

Satomi smiled, feeling her anger abate a little. Stiles had called her and passed on some incredibly interesting information that had both elated her and royally pissed her off. Was he doing the right thing? She had no idea. But the truth was this was going to come to a head at some point, and perhaps it was better to rip the band aid off now, before the packs began dealing with the invaders.

“I’m gonna puke.”

She looked up. Stiles had stopped again, looking pale and sweaty.

“They’re here. All of them.” He turned panicked eyes towards her and she was once again struck by his youthfulness. She could hear the car doors open. There was a pause before one by one they closed, as if the occupants were hesitating. She didn’t blame them. She could tell Erica was nervous as hell. Boyd, well she’d always had a tough time reading the large man. And Derek was projecting like a fucking lighthouse, all nerves and fear.

Stiles took a deep breath before schooling his features. He was too used to projecting his own front, that of badass mage and Alpha wolf. The fingers drumming on the side of his legs was his only tell.

They could hear the three betas walk up to the diner door, then some muffled talk. Then only two proceeded.

“He’s refusing to come in,” Stiles whispered.

“He will need time Stiles.”

Stiles looked over at his mentor, just as Erica and Boyd walked in. Stiles took them in, squaring his shoulders. His mask was automatic now – ‘don’t fuck with me’ written all over him.

He saw Erica narrow her eyes as she approached him and then suddenly, faster than he’d have thought her capable, Erica Reyes was advancing on him and swinging.

“You son of a bitch,” she grunted out as she smacked Stiles as hard as she could, tears in her eyes. Boyd panicked, not knowing Erica was going to do that. He ran up to her and grabbed her, pulling Erica behind him to protect her from Stiles’ retaliation.

“Alpha, I’m so sorry…”

Stiles just ran a hand over his cheek, lifting a hand up to stop Boyd at the same time Erica snapped at Boyd to not dare apologize.

“It’s fine Boyd. I guess I deserved that.”

Boyd looked over to Satomi as he backed away from Stiles, who still sat with her glass of tea and a look on her face that gave nothing away. He had a death grip on Erica’s arm, keeping her behind him. He had no idea what Stiles was going to do, and Boyd would die to protect his girlfriend.

Stiles let out a shuddering breath, a hand rubbing up through his hair and around his neck as he looked at the floor. He dropped his mask, letting his emotions out so the two betas could read him. Perhaps it would be easier to start with that.

He didn’t look at them, but he could hear Erica suck in some air, and felt their confusion. A ways away he felt the third set of emotions answering back and Stiles looked up at the ceiling, trying to compose himself. Despite his status as an Alpha and a powerful mage, he was suddenly very uncertain.

“Do you think Derek could come in? I really need him to hear what I have to say.”

He could feel Derek stiffen up in his emotions from where he stood outside the diner. Erica and Boyd just looked at him.

“Stiles, we promised Derek we’d have his back and protect him. We won’t let you hurt him anymore.” Erica was standing next to Boyd now, and Stiles admired her resolve to protect her former Alpha.

“I don’t wish to hurt him Erica, I promise,” Stiles told her quietly. “The Nemeton, it uh, it spoke to me about what really happened that day.” Stiles sucked in a breath, closing his eyes.

Erica was shocked when a tear spilled down his cheek. He looked back up at her, his eyes pleading with her. “Please Erica, I need to see him.”

It came out so desperate that Erica didn’t know how to respond. The raw pain in Stiles’ eyes was so intense she was struck speechless. Boyd had seen it too, his hand on hers gripping almost painfully. Neither needed to respond when Derek quietly stepped into the room.

Stiles felt his breath catch at the sight of his boyfriend. Former boyfriend. The once proud Alpha walked in with his head down and neck bared in submission. He was shaking slightly, the nerves radiating off of him. Stiles just looked at him. Derek had lost weight. A lot. Where he had once been ripped with muscle that made Stiles want to lick him like a popsicle, he was scrawny and sunken in. His normally tan skin looked pale, and Stiles wanted to cry at the sight of him.

But it was Derek standing there, shaking like an abused dog with his neck on display that killed Stiles the most. He found himself walking slowly up to Derek, inhaling the sickly scent of omega.

“Derek? He whispered. “What the hell happened to you?”

Derek only bared his neck more, eyes downcast so far they looked closed. “A-Alpha.”

Stiles reached out, slowly so as not to frighten Derek, but he could feel and see him stiffen up. He let his hand come up to under his chin, lifting Derek’s face into an upright position. He could feel Derek fight him, as if to not show his submission was anathema to him.

“Derek, please, will you look at me?” Stiles asked, swallowing hard. Finally, slowly, Derek moved his face up, but his eyes were still downcast.

“Der?” Stiles pled, his voice catching.

The use of his old nickname ripped at Derek’s heart, the tears spilling out as he hesitantly raised his eyes to look at the man he’d loved. The man who was his mate. The man who’d left him.

The tone of his reply was dead, even as the tears spilled freely.

“Alpha.”

 

* * *

 

 

Stiles had stepped back, his hands gripping his hair quickly before he spun around. His eyes looked wide and wrecked as he looked at Satomi.

“I-I need a moment.”

That was all he said as he pretty much fled the diner, the door swinging open with a bang. Satomi caught a glimpse of white fur as Stiles streaked off.

Boyd and Erica had quickly surrounded Derek, arms around him in protection as they’d watched Stiles take off. Boyd was the first to turn to look at Satomi.

“Alpha Ito, why did you request our presence? Was it merely so Alpha Aonghus could just see Derek?” There was an underlying note of anger in Boyd’s words that was so unusual that Erica placed her free arm on his shoulder, as much in comfort as in a reminder that they were in the presence of another Alpha.

Satomi stood and walked over to the trio. She ignored Erica and Boyd, knocking their arms off of Derek before pulling him into a hug. Derek hugged her back, but he had shut down, his eyes were vacant.

“My child, I would never hurt you, you know that.” She placed a kiss on his temple before looking up at the other two betas. “Please, sit with me and hear what we have to say.” She didn’t wait for a response before pulling Derek along, still in a side hug, and leading him over to a seat and making him sit. There was a pot of hot water sitting on a trivet and she wasted no time pouring water into a cup. She then pulled a tea bag out of a small case and opened it before putting it into the water. She grabbed two sugar packets, flipping them in her fingers before tearing them open and pouring them in and stirring it with a spoon. She then placed the mug in front of Derek and told him to drink. Erica and Boyd still stood where they were, looking a little startled at the Alpha’s motherly treatment of their pack member.

“Please come sit with me, you will be more comfortable,” Satomi said, not looking up to the two of them, instead focusing on Derek. He just sat, eyes down. Erica and Boyd made their way over and sat on the other side of Derek, Erica in between the two men so that she could hold Derek’s hand.

“I can tell from your confusion there is much you do not know,” the older woman said, finally looking up at them. She had one of her hands placed over Derek’s, rubbing small circles into the top of his with her thumbs.

“Derek’s mother and I grew up together. We were dear friends. I promised Talia that should anything ever happen to her I would watch over her children. I was made Derek’s godmother, and he is so very dear to me.” She squeezed his hand as she said this, finally eliciting a response from him as he looked up briefly at her. “Drink child, it will help soothe your nerves.”

Derek pulled his hands away from the two women and did as he was told, grimacing at the taste. Satomi chuckled at him. “You never did acquire a taste for my _bancha_ tea.” She just smiled at the pouty face Derek quickly gave her, but he finished it nonetheless.

“Derek, why don’t you go for a run and let me talk to these two for a few minutes.”

Derek didn’t even hesitate as he jumped up and booked it out of the diner.

 

Stiles finally gave up the chase, letting the rabbit get away. He didn’t really want to catch it, he just wanted to run and have his thoughts focused elsewhere. He was breathing heavy but still had a ton of energy left to burn. He was resolutely trying to not think about what had gone down in the diner. He wasn’t sure what to expect, but seeing Derek like that hadn’t been it. It was worse than all the other times he’d seen him over the past few days. Then he was always being shielded by someone. He’d known he was somehow an omega, but to see him so ground down like that, refusing to even look at him had killed him.

He sat back on his haunches, his tongue hanging out as he panted for a minute, letting his senses roam. He could feel the energy of the Nemeton, it seemed to be pulsing at the moment, almost like it was directing something in the woods. He listened to the various birds and rodents and just let his mind drift. This, this he loved about being a wolf. As a teen he’d never wanted the bite. Hadn’t wanted it as an adult either, but it had been forced on him. But this was definitely one of the perks, he loved being able to have an additional layer to him that could sense the natural world in addition to his magical layers.

He sensed no threats nearby so he let himself flop down into the wet leaves and roll around on his back. He would never in a million years or under threat of torture admit how much he enjoyed this simple act. It was pure canine, which should have seemed weird. In his younger years had he seen a pack member do this it would’ve provided hours of snarky fun for him as he teased whoever it was that did it. But now, well, shit. It was fun. Plus it helped cover his scent. So there was that. A very mature answer to rolling around in the leaves like a puppy.

He was on his back, tongue lolled out and slapping in his eye and his back legs sticking up in the air when he caught the scent. He debated for a couple of seconds on how he should respond. Should he get up and present a solid front? No, no he thought, this might just be the position to be in to get Derek to come closer. Derek would be able to tell it was Stiles, even if Stiles was in his wolf form. Derek wouldn’t know he could do a full shift, but unless his sense of smell had weakened along with the rest of him he’d still be able to tell.

What Stiles hadn’t counted on, however, was seeing Derek approach him in _his_ wolf form. He rolled his head over and watched Derek. Derek stood off a ways, tail tucked and head down, but he was looking over at Stiles. Probably trying to figure out what the hell Stiles was doing. Stiles chuffed at him, trying to get him to come closer. Derek stepped back a step, but he still watched him. Stiles let himself flop over onto his side and raised his head and let his tail wag, the universal sign for, ‘dude, we’re good.’ He decided to stay where he was. Derek needed to make the first move to come closer. He did however give a little bit of a yip and made sure his ears were upright and pointed forward.

Derek blew out a breath through his nose, then scented the air. When nothing alarming hit him, he took a tentative step towards Stiles. Stiles flopped his tail up and down, encouraging him, and was happy to see Derek continue forward slowly. Stiles rolled over onto his back again and raised all four legs as he scooted back and forth, scratching his back. Little canine moaning sounds came out before he could stop himself, but it felt good. There was just the right amount of sticks, small rocks and leaves under him to give him a nice rub. When he looked over again he was surprised to see Derek was only a foot away, his tail still tucked but his muzzle reaching out as he sniffed at Stiles. Stiles let his front paw reach out and bop Derek on the nose. Derek jumped back, but then stretched again. Stiles watched his body language, taking his cues from Derek. Derek was uncertain of what was going on, but not scared. His ears were sideways, but even though his tail was still low, it was swinging back and forth slightly. All good signs, Stiles thought to himself.

He let himself roll over again, slowly, onto his side. When Derek didn’t back away he kept going until he was on his belly, his front legs out in front of him. He let his tongue out and kept his tail moving. He chuffed again, letting himself scoot a tiny bit towards Derek. Derek let him, so he kept it up until he was right in front of Derek. Stiles let his head raise up enough to lick under Derek’s chin, and Derek stiffened slightly.

As an Alpha Stiles was showing complete submission, not just to a beta, but the omega of a pack. It was very unusual behavior, and Stiles knew he was confusing Derek, but he was hell bent on proving that Stiles was no threat to him. Stiles continued to lick around Derek’s muzzle, and as he felt Derek relax he slowly raised himself up, grooming Derek around his eyes and ears. Derek’s eyes were closed and Stiles felt a shudder move through him, and Stiles internally fist bumped.

He stopped his grooming and then bopped Derek in the head with his muzzle, getting his attention. When Derek looked at him Stiles hopped back and yipped at him, bowing down and throwing his butt into the air with a strong tail wag. Stiles wanted to play, so he hopped forward towards Derek with another yip, trying to get him to respond. When Derek just stood there Stiles stood up and ran in a circle before vocalizing to him repeatedly, as if to say, ‘loosen up man, let’s play!’ His hope was that he could break Derek’s defenses down enough to get him to listen to what Stiles desperately needed to tell him. To tell him how fucked up their entire situation was, and why.

Derek chuffed at him, and Stiles took it as a good sign. It was probably Derek’s way of telling him he was a complete idiot, but it was a response. The fact he was even responding, let alone remaining in the same area as Stiles after everything that had gone down so far was a miracle. So he trotted back over and nudged him in the side with his shoulder before bounding off. It took several minutes of this, but Stiles was determined and he was finally rewarded when Derek vocalized at him with a series of high pitched sounds. When Stiles got close enough Derek finally let go and nudged into him, pushing him away and then bounding off himself. Stiles raised his head and chuffed, it was on.

He ran after Derek, tail high and ears forward and Derek met him move for move as the two wolves sparred and play fought. They nipped at each other’s hind ends, played ‘catch me if you can’ and rolled around as they rabbit-kicked each other. They kept it up for almost an hour until the two were on their backs, panting hard and looking goofy. Stiles was willing to bet it was safe for him to shift and talk. He rolled back over on to his belly and slowly let himself shift, giving Derek enough notice to not be startled.

When Derek rolled over and tucked his legs under him but looked at Stiles, Stiles let himself complete his shift and magik some clothes on. He had a smile on his face as he looked at the black wolf. He’d come back to Beacon Hills so full of hurt and anger. He’d never dreamed he’d be able to find any kind of silver lining. He just needed to explain to Derek what he’d found out.

“So uh, I really want to talk with you Derek, and I’m really hoping you’ll stick around to hear me out. I, um. I recently was enlightened about some things, about why things happened back then. Will you stay?”

Derek nosed his muzzle into the ground, breathing through his nose as he pushed dirt and leaves around. But after a moment or two, as if having made up his mind, he lay his head down on top of his front paws and looked up at Stiles.

“I’m gonna take that as a yes? So, do you wanna stay as a wolf? Or do you want to shift? I can magik some clothes on you if you want?”

Derek didn’t make any kind of response, so Stiles just nodded. “OK. So first of all, dude, wow. I can’t believe you made the full shift! I don’t know many other wolves that can. It’s really fucking cool man. I’m not even sure why I can do it, maybe because of my magical abilities. I bet your mom would be out of this world thrilled for you, you know?”

Derek closed his eyes at that, not wanting to respond to that, because he doubted being able to achieve a full shift made up for everything else he’d fucked up. Stiles seemed to catch on to his mood, so he changed the subject.

He crossed his legs Indian-Style and rubbed a hand over his mouth, seeming uncertain. “Fuck. I don’t even know where to start. This is so messed up on so many levels.” Derek heard Stiles’ voice catch and looked back at him, but did nothing else.

“Scott accused me of killing Allison, you know that? Said I betrayed him and the pack. That I told those damn witches how to kill her. You weren’t here. They attacked us and I barely even remember what the hell happened. I just remember taking a spell full on, and when I woke up she was dead, the rest of the pack was mangled and Scott had gone over the edge. Yelling at me about how I’d killed her. One second she’d been right there next to me, and then next…” Stiles sucked in a breath, his eyes blank as the memories crashed over him. “Fuck man, the next she was on the ground next to me, her body shredded.”

Stiles pulled his knees up to his chest and rested his elbows on them, his head in his hands as he tried to will the tears away. He so did not want to re-live this, but he had to. The tears came anyways and he wiped them away hastily as he looked at the ground.

“So the pack, they’re all fucked up man. They’re all hurt and completely out of it. No one knew what the hell was going on. Only that Scott was on a warpath at me. Screaming and accusing me. Then he spent two days telling me that you’d found out what I’d done, and you’d left for good. Didn’t want to be with someone who could kill a pack member.”

At this Derek’s head came up, his eyes open and wide and a small whine coming from him. “Then he started on the whole “Stiles is the weak human traitor, always getting hurt and into trouble” spiel. And he kept telling me you were over me, you didn’t want to put up with it anymore and didn’t know how to tell me. That you going off to see that other pack was your excuse for bailing.”

Derek’s whine morphed into a growl, and Stiles wiped his eyes before looking back up at him. “Yeah man, I know. He had me convinced that you thought I was basically a piece of shit and I wasn’t worth the air you breathed. Then he kicked me out. And that was it. I packed my few things and me and dad high tailed it out of Beacon fucking Hills.”

There was a small burst of movement as Derek stood up and shook his coat out before beginning his shift. Stiles sat back and watched as his wolf features melted away and became human. Fur was replaced with pale, drawn skin and Stiles murmured a few words so that when he completed his shift Derek was clothed. Derek looked down, having automatically pulled into himself to cover his nudity, and was surprised at the clothes. Stiles smiled at him a little.

“Yeah, handy little spell I picked up. Cuts down on the embarrassing moments of being naked in public.”

Back in his human form, Derek looked much less confident than he had as a wolf. All of the work Stiles had done getting him to relax and ‘come out of his shell’ was gone, and Derek was back to being timid. But he was startled when Derek actually spoke, even if it was almost a whisper.

“I looked for you for so long,” he said, not looking at Stiles.

Stiles was surprised to hear that. Despite the years since he’d been kicked from the pack he’d never stopped believing that Derek had left him. Their relationship had been too new for Stiles to be confident in Derek’s feelings for him, and his lack of self-confidence had played perfectly into Scott’s words as he was banished.

“Me and dad, we booked it out of here. Dad wasted no time resigning and getting us out the hell out of town. In fact I think he was secretly glad this all went down, it gave him the perfect excuse to get out of here. I’m pretty sure he stayed for me. ”

“I looked for over two years. For you and your dad. You were just gone,” came another whisper.

Stiles poked his finger into the dirt, drawling little shapes. Derek had looked for him? He felt another wave of anger rush through him at another example of what could have been.

“Where is your dad?”

Stiles looked up, the one question he didn’t want to answer right in front of him. Derek was looking at him, his eyes sad, but he was making eye contact. Stiles found he couldn’t not answer.

“He’s dead.”

Derek let out a whine of distress and rocked himself slightly. Stiles had a stoic look on his face and had his emotions locked down, but the news was devastating to Derek. Stiles was alone. His one family member gone. Derek had always respected the man, even if he had arrested Derek back in the day. He was a good man.

“I was training with a pack in Colorado whose emissary had taken us in. She’d discovered my spark and how powerful it was and had been training me for a couple of years. I had become powerful by then. Not as much as I am now, but more so than I should’ve been. We were attacked by a rival pack. The alpha was massive. He gutted my dad right in front of me. Then he went after me. I was in shock about dad and before I knew it he’d grabbed me by the throat with his fangs when I killed him with a spell. Another second and I would’ve been buried next to my dad. And I became an alpha the next night.”

Derek covered his mouth with his hands as more tears came. He’d wondered if Stiles had solicited the bite or been forced. To be turned like that was devastating to hear. So much loss, so much grief. It was hard to imagine how Stiles’ had gotten through it.

“Anyways. Our alpha was dead, as was most of our pack. I uh, killed the rest of the rival pack. And the members of our pack who survived are the ones here with me now. So I had already had a high level of anger running through me, but when that all went down, I guess I got worse. I was now in charge of a pack, my dad was gone, and I was pissed. I had the powers of magic and wolf mixing together and I began to adopt some rather unhealthy coping mechanisms. Sleeping around, experimenting with wolfsbane-laced drugs. That kind of thing.”

Stiles’ voice tapered off and Derek could smell a hint of shame peek out from his wall. Derek just took a moment and really looked at the man he’d loved once. And who was he trying to kid, he still loved him. Always would. Underneath the pain and the anger Stiles was still his mate. And he hadn’t left. He’d been exiled.

“So why did you come here?” Derek asked. There was no censure in his tone, just the honest confusion of why, with so much anger, and deserved anger, Stiles would want to come back. Luckily Stiles picked up on that, and gave Derek another small smile.

“Partly because I owed Satomi. She gave me and dad sanctuary right after Scott kicked me out, and she kept it secret from you guys. She also helped me out when I was turned. So I thought I should at least help her pack out. And while I had absolutely no desire to come back here and see you guys, at the time I demanded a really high price from her, thinking that I could get my revenge on Scott.”

Derek just looked at him confused, wondering what the payment Satomi had spoken of was. Stiles was looking uncertain again, glancing between Derek and the ground. “Yeah, so I may have told her that she would look the other way and not intervene if I killed Scott and left you guys without an alpha.”

Derek took in a breath at the admission. To do that to a pack was basically a death sentence. That Stiles could do that to them…actually Derek couldn’t blame him. Sometimes Derek had wished for death. It was only Erica and Boyd that had kept him from looking for death.

“I…I don’t know what to say Stiles.” He wasn’t honestly sure what to think. It was a horrible thing to admit to, but at the same time Derek didn’t blame him. Stiles had lost everything he loved. It would drive anyone crazy. Just look at his uncle. Six years in a mentally awake coma after losing his pack, his wife and unborn child, had driven him batshit crazy for a while.

Stiles could read Derek like a book, and he wasn’t expecting any kind of understanding or forgiveness. Rather he was expecting the abject horror of him admitting to something so cruel. He took the fact that Derek hadn’t taken off as a good sign, so he continued.

“So I came, and then the Nemeton…fuck. I don’t even know. It tried to tell me it had been waiting for me, called me the Chosen. Said this was my territory. I tried to contradict it and then suddenly it’s filling my head with all of this information, all these images. Of _the fucking truth_ of that day. And that rat bastard who used to be my best friend and what he fucking did to me. To us.”

Derek was slammed with a wall of rage so intense from Stiles that it caught his breath. He instinctually bared his throat and curled into a ball. When he dared to look up through his eyelashes Stiles’ eyes were bright crimson and his hands were fisted as he shook with a rage Derek had never seen before.

“He took everything from me Derek. He took my memories. He took my pack from me. My dad.” Stiles turned his red gaze to Derek. “ _He took my fucking mate from me. And he’s going to pay_.”


	8. Chapter 8

_Nobody can save you now_   
_King is crown, it's do or die_   
_Nobody can save you now_   
_The only sound_   
_It's the battle cry_

 

Erica and Boyd sat quietly, not capable of words. Satomi had filled them in on what apparently had actually happened that day seven years ago. Stiles had filled her in to some degree. Not everything, she was pretty sure. But the important bits.

Satomi sat and just watched them try to soak in the truth, watched them struggle. Erica kept veering between righteous anger and despair. Boyd, well Boyd was Boyd. Her own anger was in check, she found that having told the two betas Derek held dear had helped her gain control.

Three sets of eyes turned towards the door as they heard Derek and Stiles approaching. When Stiles stepped in, looking almost shy in his uncertainty, Erica didn’t even hesitate. She launched herself out of her chair and ran across the restaurant and tackled Stiles into a hug, her long legs wrapping around his waist.

“Oh my god Batman!” She cried, hugging Stiles hard. Stiles hugged her back, his face tucked into her shoulder as he held her while she cried into him. Derek had snuck back off out of the way. He was still fighting his omega instincts, despite the time spent in the woods. Back in the presence of Alpha Satomi he reverted right back and slunk into the corner while he watched the two of them hug.

Stiles felt himself choke up a little so he didn’t bother to reply with anything other than, ‘hey Catwoman’, and held on to her. A quick glance at Satomi and her small nod told him he’d been spared having to tell Erica and Boyd what he’d learned. Boyd had come up and just put a hand on Stiles’ shoulder, and Stiles couldn’t help but realize Boyd hadn’t changed much over the years.

After another minute or so Erica finally let go and looked around. “Derek?” When she saw him sitting quietly off to the side and not looking at anyone, she gave Stiles a questioning look. Stiles just shrugged. Apparently Erica was quick to forgive. Derek would take time.

Stiles pulled back and indicated everyone should sit.

“Come on, we have work to do.”

Everyone made their way back over to the table where Satomi sat, everyone except Derek, who just stayed where he was. Stiles rubbed his hair before looking up at the table and getting down to business.

“OK, so first – who do you trust in your pack?”

Erica and Boyd were surprised by the question, it was definitely not one they were expecting.

“How do you mean?” Boyd asked, not sure how to take the question.

“Who do you trust? Who doesn’t vibe with your instincts? Who would you put at your back and not expect a metaphorical dagger?”

The two of them took a moment to think it over before answering.

“Well Liam for sure. He’s a newer wolf. Not very strong and his anger tends to get the best of him some times, but he’s trustworthy. And he’s loyal.” Erica says.

“Loyal to Scott?” Stiles asks.

“Derek.”

Boyd says it flatly, and Stiles can’t help but look up and over at Derek, who is now wrapping his arms around himself.

“How do you mean?” Stiles asks again.

“He, he’s a protector, in a way, despite his young age. He’s a good kid Stiles,” Erica says. “We trust him.”

Stiles nods, willing to take her word on that. “OK, who else?”

“Malia I think is. She’s kind of odd.”

“She’s the coyote, right? Where did she come from?” Stiles has been wondering where they found a coyote. They were rare in the world of weres, and didn’t tend to run in packs like the wolves.

“Yeah she is. We found her about a year ago or so? We were training and she just appeared out of nowhere with a bad bite wound. Looked like she’d been worked over pretty good. She had some wolfsbane on her so she wasn’t healing. She said she’d run into a hunter and had a scuffle that didn’t end well for him. She keeps to herself mostly. I honestly don’t think she cares about most of what goes on in the pack, and she’s always mouthing off to Scott. I don’t think she likes him but stays here grudgingly. Deep down I think she’s lonely.”

Stiles nods and soaks in the information, before Boyd speaks up.

“She’s a good fighter. Scrappy. She’s saved my backside, and Erica’s a few times. She tends to keep an eye on Derek as well, although he’s rarely near the worst of the fighting. Not big on social skills. Always texting on her phone. Don’t know who the hell she texts,” he finishes with a slight chuckle.

“OK, so it sounds like two solid members besides yourselves and Derek. That it?”

He notes how both Erica and Boyd suddenly look sad, and can smell hints of shame. They almost look embarrassed when they finally meet his eyes.

“Yeah. God, our pack is a fucking mess, isn’t it.” It’s not a question, but a statement. “The others are either too new or strongish supporters of Scott’s. Kira, God, Kira does whatever the hell Scott wants. She’s the peacekeeper. I think she means well but bottom line she’ll back whatever he says.”

Boyd gives Erica a side-hug when he sees how upset she is. “We are definitely not the same pack we used to be,” Boyd says quietly, looking over when Derek lets out a sad sound and promptly gets up and leaves, heading to the restroom. “Somewhere, somehow, things went bad. We’ve stuck it out, Erica and I, for Derek. We tried to get him to leave, but he couldn’t do it. Most of the pack that was around when you were here is gone. They’ve left to find healthier packs. Even Peter left, which we thought would never happen.”

Stiles seems surprised by this, but then realizes he never saw, or even smelled, Peter since coming back.

“Peter left without Derek?” Why the hell would he do that, he thought. Why leave his only family behind in an unstable pack?

“About two years ago, two and a half maybe, now, Peter was seriously injured in a fight with another pack. They attacked us and the Alpha had gone after the weaker members. Peter had gotten in between them and fought the Alpha so that the other guy could get away. The alpha was much stronger and almost killed Peter. He was so bad he was just about dead. Derek was still an Alpha, although Scott had practically taken over at that point. Derek gave up his Alpha powers in order to save Peter. As Scott took more and more power Derek ended up lower and lower in the ranks. Peter left to find a better pack. We haven’t seen him since.”

Stiles just sat there. Peter had always been odd, ever since coming back from the dead. But deep down he’d always believed that pack had meant everything to him, and the fact he had left his nephew behind made Stiles angry and sad for Derek.

“Derek’s lost everything, hasn’t he?” He said quietly.

Erica just nodded and wiped her eyes as tears fell. “I think, that was the last straw. After losing you, then the pack, Jackson and Isaac left, it became too much. He just – dwindled to where he is now. We only stay for Derek, until the day he’s ready to leave.”

Stiles let out a breath. This all happened because of one fucking event. One fucking thing that had been put in motion by one person. He felt his rage begin to grow again, his hands clenching into fists. When he heard Satomi make a sound he looked down and saw his tattoos begin to glow. He forced himself to relax one muscle at a time. It took a couple of minutes but finally he back to being calm.

“Sorry,” he muttered. For their part Erica and Boyd just remained quiet. “Listen, all of this happened because someone was greedy, and I can promise you this shit will be fixed.”

There was only one more person he wanted to ask after, and the fact he hadn’t seen her concerned him on some parts, hoping she was okay, but on the other hoped she’d gotten the hell out of Dodge and somewhere normal.

“What about Lydia?”

 

* * *

 

Stiles walked out of the woods looking pretty much the same as he went in, which was always good news to his pack. Jess snorted as she thought about how many times her Alpha had dove into things head first and come out battered and beaten but with a grin on his face. In truth, she usually enjoyed those times because those were the rare times when his grin was a truly happy grin. Not the sadistic grin usually reserved for people, or the looks of disdain and boredom. Her Alpha was not a happy man deep down. He was broken, and Jess wanted nothing more than for him to put those pieces back together. He was too young to be so jaded and full of hate. Sometimes he would come back from a night of screwing nameless people with a lightness in him, but it usually didn’t last long. His refusal to seek a true relationship with anyone pulled at her. She knew not everyone could be as happy as her and her husband, but it didn’t keep her from wishing it for others, and especially for Stiles. She knew most of his backstory, but if she had learned anything about him over the years, it was that Stiles Stilinski only told you what he wanted you to know.

But there was no denying that he seemed a little easier today as he trudged through the undergrowth towards their cars, the rest of the pack behind him. They had met with the trolls and Stiles had managed to convince them, in their own language nonetheless, that they should seek greener pastures elsewhere. She was beginning to wonder how many weird and obscure languages he knew. And yet he butchered basic Spanish with his horribly “gringo” accent that made native Spanish speakers cringe.

“Okay boys and girls, that’s one group down. The easy one at least. Now it’s time to meet up with the other packs and try to take down the harpies.”

There was some grumbling and Callum, one of his betas, muttered “I fucking hate harpies.”

Stiles didn’t blame him. They’d run into various nests before and they were a bitch to fight. They fought ugly and the fact they could fly and dive bomb put the wolves at a disadvantage. Even his magic tended to bounce off of them, making them tough to kill. He knew no one would come out of this without scratches, punctures and ripped up flesh.

* * *

 

Stiles let out a hiss as the talon raked across his back. Just because it would heal within seconds didn’t mean it didn’t hurt like a bitch as it happened. He flipped his clawed hand outwards but knew he wouldn’t make contact. The harpy screeched at him as it flew up and arced around to make another pass at him. He pulled his magic forward and readied himself. So far he hadn’t been able to do much other than make ineffectual swipes at this particular one. She was smart, keeping herself in tight to him to avoid his magic, yet somehow still avoiding his claws as well. Stiles was starting to get pissed. He was done with this thing. The others weren’t faring too much better. They’d managed to take three of them down, but there was over a dozen still to go, and they hadn’t even encountered their leader yet.

Everyone was beginning to tire, they’d been at this for hours, and Satomi and Stiles’ pack were doing the majority of the work. The McCall pack was hopeless. They had no skill in fighting as a pack. There was no communication, no working together, to take the harpies down. The three that had been killed so far had come as a result of a concerted effort to work together. Most of them were trying, Stiles would give them that. Most. Scott of course stayed out of the worst of it, yelling at his pack members instead to go here or there.

Stiles let the thrum of his magic settle into his hands, watching as the harpy came back at him. Just as she let out an ear splitting screech he threw his hands out, releasing a ball of potent energy at her. He let out a breath as it hit dead center, burning a hole clear through her chest cavity causing her to immediately lose flight. She came tumbling down, aiming right for Stiles. He simply ducked as the harpy slammed down into the leaves and dirt and skidded a few feet before coming to a stop. The body, what was left of it, just smoldered and smoked.

Convinced this one was dead Stiles turned his attention to the remaining harpies. He could see Kira swinging a katana at a harpy that was dive bombing her while one of Satomi’s wolves was trying to jump up and catch it in his claws. Derek, Erica and Boyd were actually working together to take another one down. It looked like Derek was acting as the bait while Erica and Boyd tried catching it from the sides. They were getting a few swipes in, but judging from the amount of blood on all three of them, they weren’t having too much success. Liam and four other members of the McCall pack were getting their asses handed to them.

His own pack had split up with the rest of Satomi’s, engaging the remaining harpies. He quickly sized up the situation, determined who needed the most help, and headed towards that group. Callum, Jess and one of his other betas – Jake, were trying to take one rather large harpy down. Stiles could see Jake’s arm twisted at an odd angle. It was clearly broken, but he’d probably not had a chance to reset it so it could heal.

“Jake! Fix your arm! I’ll help out!” Stiles yelled to his beta, who looked grateful for a reprieve that was long enough for him to twist his arm back the way it should, then cradle it to his chest to allow it to heal. Stiles flung out a ball of energy, but missed the front of the chest of the harpy, causing the ball to simply bounce off of her and fizzle out. They had to be hit square in the chest in order for it to work, which was usually easier said than done. Harpies were masters at flying in such a manner that their chests were protected.

She flew past him before turning on a dime, one wing flapping over her chest just as Stiles released another energy ball. It hit her wing and sizzled slightly but careened off. “Dammit,” he hissed. Jess suddenly climbed up Callum’s back and jumped, claws swiping at the harpy. The harpy screeched loudly in pain as Jess’ claws raked across her face, blood flowing from the wounds. Jess stayed up on Callum, hoping for another shot, but when the harpy came back around she swiped a wing at Jess, flinging her off of Callum’s back to go tumbling down to the ground. Stiles aimed and let loose again, almost hitting his mark. It was enough to wound, but not enough to kill.

“Stiles! Behind you!” Malia yelled.

Stiles barely had time to twist around before two sets of talons sank into his shoulders and yanked up. Stiles tried to ignore the screaming pain as he was hoisted up into the air. He let himself shift into his beta form as he tried to twist around enough to grab one of the harpies. These bitches are strong, he thought to himself as he struggled. He swung his legs wildly, trying to throw them off. It worked, unfortunately it caused them to fly directly into a large tree. One harpy let go and took off before she hit the tree, but Stiles and the second harpy slammed into the trunk before tumbling down to the ground. Her talons were still embedded in his shoulder, but as he hit the ground he forced himself to yank forward, ripping them through his skin and freeing him. He whipped around and grabbed the stunned harpy before ripping her throat out with his teeth. He kept at it until he separated her head from her body, throwing the head off to the side and wiping the blood from his face.

Jake came running up, his arm down at his side and almost healed. Malia was next to him, offering a hand to help him up.

“Jesus Christ Stiles, what the actual fuck?! Are you okay?” Jake was running hands over his alpha, checking for injuries.

“I’m fine Jake, it’ll heal,” he said with a pat to his shoulder. He nodded his thanks to Malia for her help. He was already back to surveying the fight. Jess and Callum had finally taken down the harpy they were working on. He looked over the others but noted that Kira was struggling. She had a massive gash across her back that wasn’t healing, and Stiles could see she was having a hard time raising her katana. He ran up to her group and lined himself up with the harpy. He pulled his magic forth and let loose with a bolt of energy this time, flinging it like a javelin just as the harpy came at Kira. It hit its mark, piercing her right in the heart and causing her to crash into the woods, dead. Kira, stunned, turned quickly and took in the sight of a bloodied, wolfed out Stiles breathing heavy. She gave him a small smile and a mouthed “thank you”, before turning back to the action.

It took another three hours before the remaining harpies were killed, including their leader. Stiles had tapped out his magic on her, using everything he had to take her down. The wolves were exhausted. All of them were bleeding, breathing heavy, and most were flat out on the ground just trying to recover somewhat. Stiles was on his hands and knees, his head down, as he tried to pull energy from the earth. His magic was rooted in the elements, and he drew his power from the earth. So he let himself rest a moment as he drew what he could from forest floor, before sending a quiet murmur of thanks. As he sat back on his heels he saw Erica running towards him, a look of worry on her face. She probably thought he was seriously wounded, not realizing what he’d been doing.

“ERICA!”

Scott yelled, his voice full of anger. “The fuck do you think you’re doing?! Get back here!”

Erica skidded to a halt, her neck baring in submission automatically at the alpha tone in Scott’s voice. Stiles narrowed his eyes at her. She was pissed, her eyes full of rage at her alpha, and probably at the automatic response to him. He watched as her hands clenched and then as she turned around and headed back over to Scott. Stiles ran his gaze over the rest of the McCall pack. They were all bloodied and looking worse for the wear. He let his gaze linger on Derek, who, as usual, had his gaze firmly locked on the ground in front of him. Stiles frowned though. Derek was still bleeding profusely from several gashes on his body. All of the wolves had already begun healing, and most were completely healed. But Derek’s wounds were still very much open. He felt a spark of anger rise up as he realized Derek wasn’t healing due to his status as an omega. He would take longer and in a normal, healthy pack, his fucking alpha would be over there to tend to him and help jump start the healing process.

Stiles rose up in one fluid motion, his eyes on Derek as he moved over. Liam was standing there with a hand on his shoulder, and Stiles had to give him props for not budging when he saw Stiles striding over, despite the look of fear in his eyes. When Stiles caught a whiff of the pain Derek was in a low growl escaped him before he could stop it. He flashed his eyes at the beta, telling him to back off. Derek shrunk back a little, but then caught himself, but not before sending a worried glance over towards Scott. Stiles didn’t give a fig if Scott had a problem with this, so he didn’t bother to look at the other alpha as he came up to Derek and squatted in front of him.

He let a hand rest on Derek’s shoulder, drawing his pain away. He could feel Derek relax somewhat as the pain lessened, but there was still the uncertainty of his being, for all intents and purposes, in between two rival alphas.

“Are you okay?” Stiles asked softly.

Derek didn’t speak, just nodded. Stiles could see he was cradling his arm somewhat, so Stiles took his other hands to rest over the arm. He let his magic flow gently through his hands and into Derek’s arm. The arm was broken, and probably quite painful.

“Why the fuck isn’t Scott over here tending to you Derek?” Stiles couldn’t understand why Derek was being left to his own. Only the alpha would be able to help him heal. Despite everything that had happened between Stiles and his former pack, he couldn’t wrap his mind around why McCall would refuse to aid his pack member.

“What was that?” He asked Derek when Derek mumbled something under his breath. Stiles continued to drain his pain, but he wanted an answer.

“I’m just the omega, not worthy,” Derek whispered. Stiles could smell the shame surrounding Derek and this time when his rage boiled up he didn’t bother holding it in. He stood up quickly and strode over to where Scott was standing with Kira, his usual pissy look plastered to his face. As Stiles came up to him he swung, not giving the other alpha any chance to avoid the incoming blow.

Stiles punch landed hard and knocked Scott onto his ass in the dirt. Stiles was amused to see some of his betas actually react this time. Malia just laughed to herself as Scott hit the ground.

Before Scott could open his mouth Stiles was in his face.

“What the hell is wrong with you McCall? Why aren’t you over there tending to Derek? He’s the weakest member of your pack! He can’t heal those injuries well enough without the aid of his alpha! What the fuck kind of alpha ignores the pack member most in need of his help?!”

Scott jumped to his feet, eyes crazy with anger and his body almost vibrating with his own rage.

“Don’t you dare tell me how to how to run my pack!” Scott yelled back. “You son of a bitch, how I deal with my pack is MY business, not yours! He’s fine!”

Stiles almost swung again at Scott’s lack of empathy towards a hurt wolf. It took every ounce of self-control not to slug the man in front of him a second time.

“He is not fine, Scott. He’s a mess. He’s a god damn omega! Out of everyone in your pack he’s the one who needs you most, how the fuck can you ignore him like this?!”

Stiles flinched slightly at the feel of a hand on his arm, and swung around to see Satomi and her second shielding Derek. His eyes were downcast, arm still clutched to his side and wounds still bleeding. He stood between the two alphas but was making his way over to Scott’s side.

“Stiles, it-it’s ok, really. I always heal at some point. P-Please, please don’t fight.” Derek said meekly, hobbling over to Scott and baring his neck.

The McCall betas were quiet, as if realizing how volatile the situation was. Stiles was skating a thin line in terms of outright challenging their alpha, and they had no idea what to do about it.

“Boyd, get over here and deal with Hale!” Scott snapped.

As Boyd moved over Stiles jerked forward to grab Derek. Scott wolfed out and let out a growl that Stiles was only happy to return as Scott moved in the way.

“Back off Stilinski, if you know what’s good for you,” Scott growled out. “He’s _my_ beta, not yours. Anyways, why the fuck do you even care? Why are you all over him, acting like you care? Don’t think for a second you’re going to come in here and try to poach one of my betas you asshole!”

“He’s my fucking mate McCall. And you don’t fucking deserve him as a beta.”

The low deadly tone to Stiles’ voice shut everyone up. There were stunned looks from most of the McCall pack. Derek had stopped dead in his tracks, his face full of shock, despair and something unnamable as he just stood there and looked at Stiles. Boyd had gripped Derek’s shoulder, whether in support or to keep Derek from taking off was anyone’s guess. Stiles’ eyes were burning their deep crimson, and the pure, unadulterated hatred he was aiming at Scott was palpable.

Scott, for once in his life, kept his mouth shut. But Stiles did not like for one second the gleam that appeared.

“You don’t deserve him,” Stiles angrily repeated. McCall backed up, not taking his eyes off of Stiles while his pack re-grouped to leave. Stiles could feel his own pack move up behind him and flanking him. They could sense how angry their alpha was, that he was on the verge of doing something truly frightening. They kept his back and watched until the McCall pack took off.

When the area was finally cleared, Jess walked up to him and hugged him from behind, resting her head against his shoulders.

“Go, Stiles. Go run it off.”

With that she stepped back, and motioned for the pack to leave their alpha in peace.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay in getting this chapter out. Life has been kicking me in the butt recently. That said, this story is finished!! Only a few more chapters to go.
> 
> I'm debating on a sequel, but haven't discovered a plot line yet. If you have any interest in a second part let me know in the comments!

_First things first_   
_I'ma say all the words inside my head_   
_I'm fired up and tired of the way that things have been, oh ooh_

 

 

 

_“I don’t want you anywhere fucking near him, do you understand me Derek?!”_

Derek slammed through the door to his loft, the door smacking into the stop and bouncing back and catching Erica in the side before she could catch it on the rebound.

“Derek!”

He ignored her and ran upstairs into his room, that door slamming shut and then quickly followed by the sound of the bathroom door slamming.

_“He’s just using you to get to me, and to take my pack from me!”_

_“This is all part of his plan to take what’s mine!”_

He got to the toilet just in time before emptying his stomach, broken sobs mixed into the sounds of his retching.

_“He’s my fucking mate McCall. And you don’t fucking deserve him as a beta.”_

Jesus, he’d been so shocked to hear those words leave Stiles’ mouth, and he had no idea what to do about it. He knew Stiles was his mate, but had no idea Stiles knew as well. Did he know the whole time? Did he know that before he left, but left anyways? Was this all just part of some plan? Trying to win Derek over as a way to get to Scott? He threw up one more time before sitting back on his heels and wiping his face with the back of his sleeve. He was so messed up, his self-doubts and doubts about everything happening around him becoming overwhelming.

He flushed the toilet and sat back, leaning against the wall and pulling his legs up to his chest. He could feel the tears stinging, wanting to fall, but he obstinately held them in. He refused to let them fall, refused to allow more proof of how much of a weak omega he was come forth.

“Der? Are you ok?”

He ignored Erica, not wanting to be seen. He was tired, so tired, of being weak. Tired of being the burden to the pack, the one that Scott walked all over. It wasn’t worth it anymore. He’d truly lost, and the more he thought about how weak he was, the more strongly the feeling of just ending it all came on.

“Der, I’m coming in.”

Before he could utter out a ‘no’ the knob was turning and Erica was in front of him, squatting down and offering him a class of cold water. He took it and drank it all in one go before putting the glass down.

“Erica, I want you and Boyd to go to Satomi’s. She’s agreed to take you both in.”

There was the distinct sound of something being dropped downstairs before Erica spoke up. “Derek, hold on. What are you talking about?”

“I can’t do this anymore. I’m tired. I’m done. I want both of you over there tonight. I’ll call ahead and let her know you guys are coming.”

Erica snorts indelicately. “Derek, give me a break. We’re not leaving you. You know that. What the fuck is all this talk?”

Derek just looks up at her, his eyes pleading with her to stop. They’re red rimmed from being upset, and it makes her stop before asking more questions.

“Erica, please,” he says quietly. “I, I don’t know what’s true anymore. All I know is I’m tired. I’m tired of all of this. I never wanted any of this. Just leave me alone.” Derek gets up and pushes Erica out of the bathroom, and then out of his bedroom, before closing the door gently behind her. He lays down on his bed and puts his back to the world as he curls into himself.

 

 

Later that evening Stiles raises a hand to knock, but the heavy door is sliding open before he can make contact with it. He’s nervous and suddenly feeling very awkward and un “Alpha” like.

“Stiles come in. We need your help.”

He steps in behind Erica and nods a hello to Boyd. Boyd simply nods back, a slight baring in his neck to show his respect. He can smell a distressed Derek upstairs, but he’s focused on the two betas.

“Hey guys, what’s up? I’m not so sure I should be here, to be honest.”

Erica pulls him in by the front of his shirt and then pushes him onto the couch. Part of him smarts at being manhandled by a beta, but mostly he doesn’t care. If it had been anyone else they’d be missing their arm by now, but well, this is Erica.

“You need to fix Derek,” Erica says. Stiles can’t help the rude snort that escapes him. “Fix him? How am I supposed to do that?”

“Is what you said back there true?” Boyd asks as he comes over to join them. “You told Scott Derek was your mate. And ever since then Derek has been a mess.”

Erica’s eyes are welling up a little as she nods her head. “Stiles,” she whispers so Derek won’t overhear her, “Derek has gone downhill so far. I mean, he was Alpha when you left, and now he’s omega, and we felt like he couldn’t sink any lower than that. But ever since you came back, he’s gotten even worse.”

She pauses for a second, before wiping her eyes. “Did you know he took over as pack mom?”

Stiles just shook his head. Of course he didn’t know. Hell he didn’t even know Derek was no longer the alpha until he’d come back to Beacon Hills.

“He’s been taking care of us, because Scott sure as hell hasn’t been. Scott has never had a pack night. Not once, since taking over. Derek saw how the pack was breaking down, and he began to have unofficial pack nights. Scott never knew about them because then he’d just accuse Derek of trying to steal the pack from him. But he knew we were suffering from lack of contact. So most of the pack would come here to hang out and eat and watch movies, that kind of thing. Derek did his best to try and build up the pack bonds, even though it should’ve been Scott doing it. But lately, well now he just hides in his room. We haven’t had a pack night since you came back, and he’s just gotten more depressed and the more Scott puts him down and tells him how worthless he is, the more he believes its. I mean, come the fuck on, this is _Derek Hale_ we’re talking about! This is the guy that kicked everyone’s ass back in the day. And now he’s just a puddle of goo.”

“So you think he’s gotten worse because I came back?”

Boyd spoke up again, which honestly was unnerving to Stiles. The man barely ever spoke in the past and had always made Derek look downright chatty. “No, it’s not that. I mean, yes, it’s gotten worse since you came back, but we’re not sure you’re the cause. Which makes no sense. But we feel like something else is going on.”

This sparked Stiles’ attention a little. “Like what? Something to do with the invading groups?”

Erica looked over to Boyd before back to Stiles. “We feel like it isn’t a coincidence that all these groups are here to take over, your pack is here to help us, and Derek is deteriorating. It all feels wrong.”

“Hmm, okay then. I’ll make a visit to the Nemeton again. Maybe get some more answers. The last time we spoke it gave me some rather interesting information that I still haven’t figured out how to handle yet.”

The two betas nodded, glad that Stiles wasn’t outright dismissing them.

“So, was it true, what you said?” Erica asked again.

Stiles sighed, it figured they had realized he hadn’t answered that the first time. He rubbed his eyes with the heel of his hand, suddenly feeling tired. “Yeah, it was true. Didn’t know it until I first saw him, when we arrived to help out. I saw him huddling there behind you guys, and when I caught his scent, it was there. It was almost buried under all the other negative scents he was projecting, but it was there. I didn’t know what to do about it. Still don’t, to be honest. I didn’t exactly mean to blurt it out like that. But that fucking McCall just pissed me off.”

“We’re pretty sure Derek already knew, and that’s partly why he’s having such a hard time. He, uh, he didn’t tell us himself, but it was hinted at by someone else.”

Stiles looked at Erica as she spoke, and figured he could guess who the ‘someone’ else was. Satomi must have said something, maybe to help explain Derek’s recent behavior. Who knew, though. This whole situation was such a clusterfuck, Stiles thought. He’d been relatively happy up north. It wasn’t a perfect existence, by any means, but it had been quiet enough. No drama. He had a strong pack, everyone got along together, and there was no in-fighting. And now, this? This was just ridiculous. He just wanted to go home and say screw it all to both of these packs. His desire to see Scott dead didn’t feel as strong as it was in the past, now…now he just didn’t care enough to want him dead.

“You know what? How about Erica and I go out and get some dinner for ourselves, and maybe you and Derek can take some time to talk,” Boyd said.

Erica smiled at her husband, and looked over to Stiles to gauge his reaction. Stiles just nodded. It was time for a serious talk between the two of them. “Yeah, that sounds like a plan.”

The two betas took a few minutes to get their keys and purse and whatnot and headed out of the loft, giving Stiles a little wave as they left. Derek had been incredibly quiet upstairs, and if it wasn’t for the fact Stiles could hear his heartbeat he’d think Derek had taken off. He slowly made his way up the stairs, part of him wanting to find some kind of resolution, the other part wanting to tuck tail and hightail it out of there like the coward he was. He opened the door slowly and poked his head into Derek’s bedroom, calling his name out quietly and stopped to take in the sight.

 

Derek lay on his bed, curled into himself, sound asleep. Stiles made his way over to him, a little worried at the fact that he was able to sneak up on him without Derek waking up, and squatted down next to the bed. Derek had his hands clenched around something and Stiles couldn’t resist pulling out the paper. As he did, his heart stopped as he looked at the photograph of him and Derek so many years ago. Laughing in the woods, so carefree and so much younger. He remembered that day clearly. It was an image that always rose unbidden on his dark days of whoring around or finding some new wolfsbane laced drug to take to try and numb the pain.

The photo was creased and well worn, and Stiles had a feeling it saw many nights of being held onto in Derek’s sleep. The pain of what was, and what could have been, or more accurately – what _should_ have been, hit him hard. God damn it, that should have been the first of hundreds of photos of the two of them, he thought to himself. He looked back up at Derek and saw he was awake, the pain Stiles was feeling mirrored in Derek’s eyes. Stiles raised his hand to caress Derek’s cheek before suddenly leaning in and resting his forehead against Derek’s and letting out a small sob.

“Oh my god, Derek, I’m so fucking sorry.”

Derek pushed himself up so that he was sitting upright but leaning into Stiles. “What are we going to do Stiles?” Derek asks quietly. Knowing that Stiles had recognized him as his mate had made things so much easier yet much more difficult at the same time. He was still looking down when Stiles cupped his face with both of his hands, his long fingers caressing the stubble covered cheeks. Stiles nudged him to look up before pulling him in for a searing kiss. It took only a moment for Derek to respond, to revel in the feel of Stiles’ lips on his own.

He sighed into the kiss, his own fingers grabbing onto the front of Stiles’ shirt and holding on. For a moment it was like the last several years had never happened. They were back there in the woods, enjoying themselves on a rare monster-free day and just indulging in themselves for a while. It had taken so long for Derek to accept his feelings for Stiles, and then to be in a position where he felt like he could act on those feelings. He’d felt younger and lighter for the first time since the fire, since losing his family and his pack. And then just like that it had all been taken away from him yet again. But now, now he felt that glimmer of hope that maybe he could have some of it back. But then, he couldn’t help think even as Stiles continued to kiss him with a reverence and such passion, this too would probably be taken away from him. He didn’t deserve anything good in his life. He was not worthy of it.

Stiles pulled back suddenly, looking Derek straight into his soul. It was as if he’d heard Derek’s inner monologue. “I’m not entirely sure what we do now Derek, but I am not going to let you go again. That I can promise you. I will either take down McCall and his pack and take this godforsaken territory out of his hands, or I will take you back to my pack up north. But I’m not leaving you behind, ever again.”

Derek shuddered at the words, at the truth ringing in them and the deadly serious look in Stiles’ eyes. “What, um, what about Erica and Boyd? Could they come with you? To your pack?”

Derek looked so uncertain, and there was that spark of fear. Yet Stiles couldn’t help but smile at his mate. That despite all of the shit raining down around them, Derek’s concern for his former betas was still prominent in his thoughts and acts. He leaned in and kissed Derek again before pulling back once more.

“If they want to join me, I’d take them in a heartbeat. And anyone else you feel strongly about.”

Derek couldn’t help the sound that escaped him as he flung his arms around Stiles and hugged him hard, his eyes clenched shut against the tears that wanted to fall. Stiles hugged him just as hard and tucked his nose into the crook of Derek’s neck and just inhaled his scent. For a brief moment all of Derek’s fears were held at bay by the promise of his alpha. _His alpha_.

Holy shit, he thought.


	10. Chapter 10

_All the emptiness inside you_   
_Is hard enough to fill_   
_Without a sense of purpose_   
_Were setting up to fail_   
_You don't have to make it right_   
_Just hold your head up high_

 

 

Stiles stood stock still, arms crossed and eyes fixated on the sight before him. He chewed on his bottom lip, weighing the pros and cons of his choices.

“For the love of God Stiles, just pick one, would you?” Came the exasperated words of his beta.

Stiles slowly looked over at Jake, his eyes flat. “Do you have any idea how serious a decision this is Jake? One does not simply ‘pick one’. One must weigh…”

“Oh for fuck’s sake, they’re chips man. _Chips_. We’re not deciding the fate of the world here. I’m hungry and I want to go back to our hotel and eat, and then sleep. You’ve been looking at the same two bags for twenty minutes.”

Stiles let out a sigh that encompassed all of his disappointment in Jake’s lack of ability to understand how one has to carefully decide between the cool ranch and nacho Dorritos. He smacked his beta upside the head gently before laughing and grabbing both bags. He pointedly ignored the mumblings from Jake about how after all of that Stiles ends up taking both.

They made their way to the check- out line and stood behind the few people waiting. Stiles was about to say something when he stopped dead in his tracks. A shudder ran up his spine and the hairs on the back of his neck stood on end as the fission of power rippled through the air and over him. He turned slowly to track where his potential adversary was and almost dropped the chips when he spotted her.

“Dude Stiles, I was just joking…” Jake’s light voice dropped deeper as he caught on to his alpha’s distress. “Stiles what is it…” Jake immediately moved in front of Stiles, hands curled in to hide his claws as he widened his stance and prepared to defend his alpha.

“Stiles Stilinski. I heard you came back.”

Stiles took a breath, sucking his lip in quickly before letting it back out. He narrowed his eyes and let his magic loose, wanting to get a read on the woman to see if she was here as friend or foe. He could feel her power, but it wasn’t aimed at him. For now anyways. He put a hand on Jake’s shoulder to calm him, and then stepped in front of his beta.

“Lydia. How the hell are you?” He asked. He still wasn’t sure if she was happy to see him or was about to carve a new asshole out for him.

He got his answer when her large green eyes welled up and she walked up to him and wrapped her arms around him, hugging him tight.

“Oh my god I’ve missed you,” she cried softly.

 

The sat at the Starbucks inside the Target they had been shopping at, each of them enjoying some kind of overpriced coffee drink. Jake still wasn’t quite sure what the situation was between this woman and his Alpha, but things seemed safe enough for the moment, so he just sat back and kept himself aware of their surroundings while Stiles and the woman caught up.

“So are you part of Scott’s pack then?” Stiles asked, blowing into the little hole on his lid to cool the drink down before taking a sip.

Lydia let out a very un-Lydia like snort as she jabbed her straw down into the whipped cream of her own, albeit iced, coffee drink. She pulled it out and licked the sweet cream off. “God no. I couldn’t put up with him after…well, you know. After things changed. He changed. Drastically. I keep in touch with Derek and Erica and Boyd, spend time in Derek’s place with the betas that come over. That kind of thing. But I am not a member of his pack. No.”

She pierced him with a look, throwing her hair over her shoulder. “But it seems things have been busy for you.”

Stiles nodded, then began to fill her in on the past few years and everything that’d happened. She became distraught when he told her about the loss of his dad, quickly wiping tears away as they fell. She chuckled as he described his second, Jess, and how she kept him in line most of the time. His training as a mage and how it’d morphed into becoming an Alpha werewolf, his struggles balancing the two parts of him. Stiles surprised himself by touching on the subject of how lonely he’d been after leaving Beacon Hills, and his downward spiral after his dad died.

“So you turned into a slut. Stiles, really?” Lydia gave him a mock look of disappointment, but she saw deeper into Stiles than he’d probably would’ve been comfortable with. She could see how the loss of Derek had affected him. She felt pretty certain that, that, above all else, had been harder for him to deal with than anything else that had been thrown at him.

Now it was his turn to turn the tables. “So you hang out with Derek? What do you guys do?” It was obvious Stiles was fishing for any information on how Derek had been living, but he didn’t care. Lydia’s face fell a little, a look of sadness crossing over her eyes. She took a sip of her drink, stalling for time to collect her words.

“Things got rough after you left. Scott began to get more aggressive, more angry. It was becoming obvious he was no longer interested in being an Alpha under Derek and there seemed to be almost mini challenges to Derek’s power. But the weird part was that Derek began to let it happen. He spent months looking for you, and each day that went by where he couldn’t find you, a little more of him gave up. When he lost his Alpha power saving his uncle Scott moved in quickly. Suddenly the loft was no longer the pack house. Pack nights became a thing of the past. But it all just ended, Scott didn’t take those things over. His house is not a pack house, by any means. No one is comfortable there. Scott began to push me out, saying he had no need for a banshee, especially one who’d been friends with you. I was happy to let him push me out. It was miserable. But Derek, well, as he gave up his leadership of the pack he began to take on more of the pack mom role. He began to invite the betas over for pizza and movies, tried to take care of everyone. And the more he did that, the more omega he became. And the more omega he became the more Scott ground his heel into his back, and it all turned into a vicious cycle.

Then people began to leave. Derek’s betas couldn’t take it, couldn’t understand why Derek wasn’t fighting to take the pack back. Jackson and Isaac took off to look for other packs. Peter left as well, which just about did Derek in. Derek was devastated. Erica and Boyd were the only two to stay, and they only stayed because they felt like if they left Derek would end up dead. But they’re at the end of their ropes too. Other betas left that Scott had collected or turned. Scott runs that pack like a dictatorship. There’s no respect for him as an Alpha, the betas obey out of fear, nothing more. Except maybe Kira. I can’t quite figure her out. And of course Malia. That’s a weird duck there.” Lydia smiled as she said that.

“I have to admit to liking Malia a lot. She doesn’t take shit from anyone, especially Scott. She’s the least likely to show any respect to Scott, and yet she’s in the pack. Go figure,” Lydia said.

“There does seem to be an interesting mix of folks in the McCall pack,” Stiles agreed.

 

 

 

* * *

 

This time when Stiles sat in the clearing of the Nemeton, it was with Derek at his side. His second was still on the outskirts keeping watch with two other betas, but the Nemeton had welcomed Derek into the circle eagerly.

_“Alpha Hale, you bring happiness to the balance_ ,” the words rang out in the wind, audible only to Stiles and apparently Derek, if his surprise was any indication.

“I suppose we do. But we have questions.”

Derek couldn’t help but whisper to Stiles. “Why is he calling me Alpha Hale? I’m not an Alpha.”

Stiles whispered back, but he was sure the Nemeton heard every word. “It’s a long story that I haven’t quite made sense of yet.”

_“You have questions, I have answers…”_

‘I sure hope so,’ Stiles thought to himself. He took a breath to center himself before responding. “Are there outside influences at work on Derek? Is he being compromised outside of his own power?”

There was a pause before the wind rustled the leaves.

_“The Hale line is out of balance.”_

Stiles chewed his lip. Not exactly the answer he was looking for. He could feel Derek’s apprehension next to him and squeezed his hand to offer comfort and patience.

“How is it out of balance? Is someone working against Derek?”

Another pause and Stiles was beginning to get fidgety. He may be an alpha and a mage but old habits die hard.

_“There should be no Hale omegas…Only Hale Alphas…Hale Alphas must rise again…Stolen power must be returned…”_

Stiles took a second to look over to Derek, and his musings must’ve been easily read for Derek spoke up. “I gave my Alpha power away, to save my uncle. It wasn’t stolen. I gave it readily.”

“How did you do that?” Stiles asked. He had no idea you could give your Alpha power away, he thought it could only be taken in death.

“Uncle Peter had been severely injured, he wasn’t healing. I couldn’t let him die. I was trying to drain his pain but it wasn’t enough. I was told I could take it further and heal him, save his life, but it meant giving up my alpha power. So I did, at that point I didn’t really care about anything other than saving him. It worked too, Peter healed and lived. He was the last of my family, I’d have done anything to save him.”

Stiles had a feeling he knew the answer to his question already, but he had to ask. “Who told you it was possible to give up your Alpha power to save a life?” He couldn’t help the coldness that wrapped around his words as he felt his anger climbing.

“Scott.”

Derek only nodded, suddenly feeling ashamed for some reason. Before Stiles could speak up again the wind began to swirl once more, but this time only around Derek. It was gentle at first, just a light breeze blowing around him, but then began to build in intensity. Stiles was beginning to worry before feeling a caressing of his mind and words of assurance filtering through. He stayed where he was, despite wanting to go to Derek. Derek was beginning to look a little anxious, but he must’ve been given the same words for he stilled, as if listening, and then Stiles could see him relax a little.

The wind built and built, and it was weird to see it blowing hard around Derek but feeling nothing himself. The wind finally pushed past Derek before whipping around and slamming into him full force, pulling a yell from Derek as it hit him in the chest. Stiles was rooted to the spot, quite literally, as the Nemeton held him still and kept him from his mate.

_“Mate is safe…must show mate truth…balance must be restored…”_

Stiles gritted his teeth a little and muttered, “You could’ve warned us”, but otherwise stopped fighting his restraints. He had a feeling this was what had happened to him the first time, and it wasn’t pretty. Derek looked like he was in pain, although Stiles could feel nothing from him. His face was scrunched and his hands were clenched at his sides as he was pummeled from the inside out.

“Please tell me you’re not hurting him,” Stiles begged, not caring that he sounded weak. He couldn’t stop looking at Derek as he began to thrash a little with the wind.

_“No pain, only knowledge…knowledge is pain…”_

Stiles was about to snark that the Nemetom had just contradicted itself before the meaning became clear to him. The Nemeton was not physically hurting Derek, but the knowledge it was passing on would cause pain, which meant Derek was probably receiving the same information he had.

When it was finally over Derek was on the ground wolfed out and crying. He pulled himself up and clenched his knees to his chest and shook. Stiles was instantly freed from the roots and moved over, grabbing Derek into a bear hug and holding him.

“Shh, it’s ok Derek. It’s ok,” he murmured. He held Derek for several long minutes before Derek finally took in a huge breath and wiped his face. He looked at Stiles, his eyes full of despair.

“Is, is what I just saw really true?”  
  
Stiles nodded, wiping the tears with his thumbs. “Yeah man, I think so. I have a feeling you saw everything it showed me when I first got here.”

Derek looked so defeated, then anger crossed his face. “Why? Why the hell would he do that to us? We – we could have been together this whole god damn time!” Derek was yelling the last words and part of Stiles was thankful to see an emotion come out of him other than tail tucking subservience. When he pushed up to his feet and began to pace, Stiles went with him.

“That fucking asshole! I’ll kill him!”

Stiles surprised himself by walking up to Derek’s back and wrapping his arms around him, hooking his chin over Derek’s shoulder. “First things first Der. We need to take care of the packs and the witches that are scoping you out.” Derek was practically vibrating with anger, but he held his ground and let Stiles ground him. Another couple of minutes and Derek was relaxing again, almost sagging back against Stiles’ chest.

“Why Stiles? Why would he do this? All I ever did was support him, help him grow. And this whole time, this whole time he was the one responsible for breaking us up, for destroying my pack and my name?” Derek let out a long, sad breath. “God, I’m so confused,” he whispered to himself. “I was supposed to hate you, to never want to see you again. And I just can’t.”

Stiles closed his eyes against the pain and heart break radiating off of Derek. It was almost too much to take it but he refused to back away. He’d promised Derek they would never be apart again, and he meant it. So he held him for all he was worth and tried to offer any tiny amount of comfort he could as his mate sat there and grieved for all of the lost years of being together, of lost betas, lost pack members and deep down, the loss of what the Hale name once meant here.

“Derek, Scott may have made a deal with the devil to get what he has now, but he will pay. I promise you that,” Stiles whispered to him.

 

 

The wolf watched as the other two left the clearing, tossing around everything he’d just seen and heard. He’d had no idea that communicating with the Nemeton was possible. He’d give anything to know what exactly had been said, but judging on the body language and reactions of both Derek and Stiles, it seemed it wasn’t entirely good news they’d received.

He needed to rethink his strategy now. Things had changed drastically after the confrontation with the harpies and Stiles’ declaration of Derek being his mate. He would need to revise, revamp and come at things from a different angle.

But, it did makes things a little easier if he was being completely honest. The distraction of newly made mates might work to his advantage. He drummed his fingers over his lips as he let various plans run through his mind, working up a rough draft of his next move. When he’d gotten an idea on his next move and knew the area was clear of the other wolves, he stood up and stretched his legs before loping off. He had things to do before making his move. But first he wanted a shower to wash off the nasty stench of skunk piss used to cover his scent and hide him from the other wolves.


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we go peeps! I had fun writing this chapter. We're almost at the end. I've been debating on a sequel/series, what do you all think? Would just need to come up with some plot points.

_Here we are, don't turn away now,_   
_We are the warriors that built this town._   
_Here we are, don't turn away now,_   
_We are the warriors that built this town_

  


 

Stiles hung up the phone and shoved it back into his back pocket before going back into the diner he and his pack were eating at. Eating out was always an adventure. If the size of their group made a waitress giddy at the potential size of her tip that excitement was usually killed quickly by the number of trips to and from the kitchen she ended up making due to the voracious appetites of his wolves. Stiles always left tips that more than compensated for the amount of manual labor their servers put in, but there was no denying that most were happy to see the pack leave their establishments once they were finished eating.

He sat back down and nodded to the pack. “Okay, so that was Satomi. Apparently someone left a calling card on McCalls porch.” Stiles shoved a french fry into his mouth as he spoke. He ignored the couple of snorts he could hear around the table before shoving more food into his mouth. “Someone painted a symbol on his front door indicating revenge. Revenge for what, I have no idea. I’m sure McCall has pissed off any number of good folks out here.”

This time the snorts were a bit louder, and Stiles looked up at the guilty parties who then put their heads back down and kept eating.

“And McCall didn’t see or hear anyone invading his den to paint this symbol on his door?” One of the betas asked. Stiles just shrugged. McCall might not have been home, although from what Satomi said it sounded like he’d opened his door to go to his car and discovered it coming back in, which would seem to indicate he was in the house when the door was painted. Stiles wasn’t sure how Scott didn’t notice someone literally walking up to his front door.

But, it could be whoever did it was able to mask themselves. Either that or Scott was just truly that unobservant. “No idea man, but either way it’s something that needs to be dealt with. It’s one of the three groups I’m guessing, either the pack we know about, this other mystery pack we can’t seem to find, or the coven.”

Stiles and his pack as well as Satomi’s had been trying to locate the other wolf pack to no avail. Every time they thought they caught the scent it would end abruptly. Stiles was getting frustrated at his lack of success, and the fact they hadn’t heard anything from them was making him nervous. The last hit had been about a quarter mile from the Nemeton before disappearing suddenly. No amount of circling the area had resulted in finding where it picked up again. It was as if they walked in and simply vanished. Stiles had let some of his frustration shine through when he began to yell into the trees at his deceptive foe and then threw a handful of leaves ‘at them’ and kicked the dirt. Juvenile, yes, but it made him feel better.

The pack all murmured to themselves as they finished their meal. The waitress made a last move around the table before depositing the check in front of Stiles with a flirtatious smile. He gave her a smile back and as he was signing the receipt a few minutes later, he realized that it was the first time in a very long time he had not flirted back with someone.

They all strode out to the various cars out in the diner parking lot. They would all be heading over to McCall’s to look at the symbol and decide their next step. As Stiles walked towards his SUV Jess shoulder checked him, her hands in her pocket and a knowing smile on her lips.

“You know, I can honestly say this is the lightest I’ve ever seen you Stiles. Don’t ‘spose it has something to do with an incredibly good looking, dark haired wolf, huh?” Stiles looked down at his beta, a shit-eating grin on her face. He smiled at her but said nothing, even as he shouldered her back. “Yeah, that’s what I thought.” She chuckled at him as they approached the car, and Stiles stopped without opening the door, just looking off into the distance.

“Yeah.” He looked back at Jess, the smile still on his lips. “I guess, I guess maybe things have changed a little. He’s my mate, Jess. This,” Stiles waved a hand, nowhere in particular, “None of this was ever supposed to happen. The Nemeton showed me what was supposed to have been. And parts of me are so unbelievably angry for what was taken from me, yet other parts are gloriously hopeful. I think _, I hope_ , that once we get past this situation in Beacon Hills, that Derek and I will be able to work things out and move on, together.”

Jess was leaning against the side of the vehicle, watching her Alpha speak. His face seemed so much younger all of a sudden, like some of the weight that had been weighing on him had lifted slightly. Yet there was still that river of righteous anger flowing underneath. He was a paradox, this man.

“So what happened, for real? You haven’t really told us,” she asked quietly. Despite her lowered voice Stiles could see some of his betas look pointedly away. He knew they heard the question and were dying to know what had happened and was going on. He really owed them all a detailed explanation, he figured.

He rubbed the back of his neck while looking out over the parking lot. “Apparently Scott performed some kind of blood ritual at the Nemeton, awakening it. It had been pretty much dormant under Derek’s watch. He took power, dark power, in order to take over the pack and territory. It was enough that it unbalanced the nature of the Nemeton and opened it up to all these invading groups looking to cash in.”

He kept looking off in the distance, a pensive look on his face, then looked back at Jess. “I get the feeling though there’s more to this. More than just Scott doing something incredibly stupid like a dark blood ritual. I just don’t know what it was yet.”

Jess nodded, toeing some rocks around with her boot.

“What about Derek? Will he come back with us? Will he leave his pack?”

Stiles let a breath out. That was the million dollar question right there, wasn’t it? Would he be willing to leave his home, the place where the Hale name had meant something for eons, to be with Stiles? He’d left once before, with Laura, but he’d come back. Would he do it again? Was there anything here worth staying for?

Stiles shrugged, looking down at his feet. “Dunno Jess. Guess I’ll have to wait and see.”

With that Stiles clicked the remote, opening the doors and hopped into the front seat. He turned the engine over and pulled out onto the highway back into Beacon Hills and to Scott McCall’s house.

* * *

 

“It’s not a sign for revenge, as much as it is for retribution.”

Stiles let his fingers ghost over the painted lines, letting his magic swim to the surface to get any kind of read. There was no tingle in his skin, no unusual scents other than the smell of the paint and a nearby skunk.

“What’s the difference? They both mean the same thing,” Scott said. The usual anger was there, but Stiles picked up on the sliver of fear laced through his words.

“Technically, by definition, yes they mean the same thing. They’re synonyms. But in terms of pack communication it’s different.”

“Retribution is more personal,” came the quiet words from Derek, who was looking at the symbol painted on the door. The once white front entrance to the McCall den was defaced with the blood red lines of a spiral that covered a good half of the wood door.

Stiles nodded at Derek’s words, but was still looking at the door.

“And you’re sure it’s from one of the wolf packs?” Satomi asked.

Stiles looked over at her and nodded again. “Yeah. Witches have their own symbols, I don’t see why they would’ve used a wolf symbol to communicate. I mean, I guess it’s possible, but I don’t know what good it would do. It wouldn’t exactly throw us off seeing as how there are both witches and wolves here. The question is why this particular symbol. Like Derek said, this is more personal. This isn’t just, ‘you killed my beta, now I have to kill yours’, type of revenge. This goes deeper. You don’t see this very often. So someone out there has a serious beef with you.” Stiles said this last part while looking directly at Scott.

“So what do we do about it? How do we handle it?” Kira asked.

“Can you tell which pack made the mark?” Came from Malia as she stood off to the side, her eyes narrowed at the door.

Stiles shook his head. “Nah, no idea. We haven’t even found the one pack. Dunno if it matters, other than if we knew what their problem was it might tell us how hard they’re going to be willing to fight for the territory.”

“As for dealing with it, it’s time to take the fight to them. Preferably before any of the three groups decide to team up against us.” Stiles took his phone out and snapped a photo of the spiral for his records.

“Pft, we’ll take them. They’re no match for us,” Scott snarked.

Stiles just shook his head at Scott’s naiveté. “And it’s that kind of thinking that will land your furry ass six feet under Scott. But you keep telling yourself that. It’s time to make a fight plan. Can everyone be here tonight to sit down and work through this?”

Stiles looked over the wolves present and took in the various nods. Some were confident, some not so much. Some were just glares in his direction from McCall betas. “Good. Let’s meet here at six.”

With that Stiles turned and headed back out, not waiting for a response. It was time to put an end to this problem. He made it down to the end of the driveway before he stopped. His tattoos began to glow slightly and his skin tingled as the wards he’d put up two days ago began to trigger one by one. He quickly turned and gave his pack the hand sign that meant trouble was coming, although the glow of his eyes was warning enough to them. Jess and his other betas quietly clued in the others that the wards were being set off.

“Joseph, get on the phone _now_ , get the rest of the pack here,” Satomi ordered her second. She was seriously undermanned as it had only been her and two betas who had come to see what had been painted on McCall’s door. Stiles’ pack had already moved over to the SUVs and removed whatever items they felt they needed before moving into pattern to cover all four sides of the house.

It was only another few minutes that he began to hear several people moving through the woods and heading their direction. Stiles looked over to see Scott doing absolutely nothing, and he felt his anger go from one to a thousand quickly.

“For fuck’s sake McCall, get your god damn pack ready to fight.” Stiles was losing count of how many individuals were approaching, and judging by his senses the witches and at least one of the packs were working together.

“Fuck,” he gritted out. They were outnumbered without the Ito pack here. He cast a gaze over everyone, quickly sizing up what he had to work with. He noted Erica and Boyd standing with Derek, who for once looked somewhat confident. Liam was hovering near him as well. The other McCall betas looked lost, except for Malia who was practically cracking her knuckles and bouncing on the balls of her feet, already in her beta shift.

“Erica, Boyd and Derek, stick together and watch the back of the house. We have at least four, maybe five approaching from there. You, you and you,” Stiles pointed at Hayden, Liam and one other beta whose name he didn’t know, take the south side of the house. Malia, Callum and Jess, take the north side.”

Scott moved in to protest Stiles’ directing of his pack members, but Stiles cut him off. “There’s no time for a pissing contest Scott. You have upwards of thirty people on your doorstep looking to wipe you out. Fucking deal with it or I’m gone.”

He didn’t wait for Scott to sputter out his indignation as he continued moving various betas around and into positions that he felt would offer the best protection as well as give them a good offensive position. He let his magic flow forward, the various designs on his body glowing and singing with power and let his eyes bleed crimson as he shifted to his beta form. At this point he could smell them coming at them. They came slowly but confidently. They would know that they outnumbered the McCall pack as well as Stiles’ own, and they had the advantage right now.

Stiles stood his ground and watched as two figures emerged from the woods, a woman and a man. The man was an Alpha and already shifted. The woman was a witch, and a powerful one from what Stiles was sensing. Her magic flowed around her like a billowing cloak, protecting her at the moment. But Stiles could tell that power would slice into them like a whip at a moment’s notice.

“Alpha Aonghus, we’ve been looking forward to this meeting,” the woman said, “I am Cassandra.” Her voice was sultry and perfectly matched her looks. She had fair colored skin and long, wavy hair that fell past her shoulders. But the most striking thing about it were the bright green eyes that stood out against her skin. In a word she was breathtaking. She stood tall and confident as she had eyes only for Stiles. The other Alpha was scouting out the wolves Stiles had positioned, and though he was just beginning to see the others coming out of the woods, they hadn’t quite made an appearance yet.

The witch waved her hands, quietly uttering a quick spell before Stiles could react. The entire world slowed to a halt, everything except Stiles and the witch stopping in mid-motion.  She walked closer to Stiles, a small smile on her lips even as Stiles brought his own magic to the surface and created a ball of energy in his hand. Out of the side of his eye he could see the enemy Alpha had also been halted, but at the moment all he cared about was the woman in front of him.

“Easy now, I only wish to talk. To explain to you why I am about to wipe out this territory and take it for myself.”

Stiles snorted, but kept his magic flowing. “Fabulous, yet another supervillain looking to monologue before destroying the world. Not like I haven’t seen that in every badly made movie ever made. So please, I’m all ears lady.”

The witch narrowed her eyes at Stiles’ mouthing off, her lips dropping their smile. “Listen you impudent little shit...” She was cut off when Stiles flung his hand out, letting loose a bolt of magic that smacked into the dirt at the witch’s feet making her jump in shock at the speed with which he had almost attacked her.

“No, _you_ listen here,” he spat. “I am sick and tired of the bullshit surrounding this territory. I had absolutely zero desire to ever return here and was dragged here unwillingly. You want this territory? Fine, then fight for it. I don’t really give a shit. All I really want at this point is to collect my mate and go home and never see this godforsaken cesspool of a town ever again.”

Stiles was tempted to turn his back and stalk off, but if there was one thing he’d learned incredibly fast, it was never turn your back to a supernatural creature, so he stood his ground and maintained eye contact with the witch, waiting for her next move. He could see she was furious, and honestly he didn’t care. Didn’t care why she was here, what her problem was or who these other wolves were. He just wanted to find a quiet spot in the world where he could hopefully reconnect with Derek and maybe put the pieces of their relationship back together.

“No!” She yelled, a long elegant finger jabbed towards him as she yelled. “No! You don’t get to go be happy! You ruined my life! You and your pack of filthy mutts! You killed my husband, you ripped his throat out right in front of me, and it’s taken me all of these years but I have finally manipulated everything to achieve my revenge, and I will watch all of you die!”

Stiles took a step back, his lips pressed together in confusion. He had no idea who this woman was or what he’d done to her, but apparently she _was_ the author of the symbol on Scott’s door and they had killed her mate.  Before he could ask her anything though she kept going, her rage visible in the shaking of her hand, the fury in her eyes and the crackle of magic in the air.

“You killed him, seven years ago right here in this very spot. Your pack attacked us and you killed the only thing I ever loved. I cursed each and every one of you that day, but it wasn’t enough. It wasn’t enough to see you pushed out of your pack of dogs, or to see your alpha go from top dog to pack bitch. Or even to see most of them leave or be killed. No, I wanted more, and now I’m getting it. That joke of an alpha out there has used the Nemeton for impure gain, stripping his Alpha of power, stripping this territory of power, and now the time is ripe for me to wipe you all out in one fell swoop!”

Stiles was hit with flashbacks of that day in the preserve, of being attacked by the coven. They hadn’t initiated the attack though, it had been the coven. Her fury was misplaced. They were simply defending themselves. “You attacked…” Stiles started, but was cut off by the maniacal look in Cassandra’s eyes.

“I killed that little bitch, killed her with her own arrows and threw her at his feet and then planted the idea that you had betrayed them. It was beautiful…”

The witch killer her. That was why Stiles couldn’t remember killing Allison. It was never his fault, but the witch’s. Stiles shifted, his rage and fury rising to the surface along with every last bit of his magic as well as his wolf. He howled as he let his magic loose at the witch, hitting her just as she threw a shield up to protect herself. It didn’t wound her but it was enough to break her spell keeping the scene around them frozen. As if those who’d been frozen had been able to see and hear everything that had been said the preserve erupted into chaos as wolves shifted and howled their outrage and began to fight.

Stiles stalked towards the witch, throwing magic at her with both hands as she hastily backstepped and threw her own to counter his spells. He said nothing, his face a mask of undiluted hatred, as he kept advancing on her. Behind him he could hear things he shouldn’t have been able to, as if his brain had become hyperfocused. He knew exactly where Derek was and his condition, he knew where each member of his pack was. He could hear Satomi yelling that cell signals were being blocked, that she couldn’t reach her pack and the slight edge of panic in her voice at the realization that her pack was probably being kept from assisting them. He could hear Scott yelling at his own pack to position themselves and get ready as the fighting began. Howls and roars began to rend the air as the scent of sulfur from not only Stiles and the witch in front of him, but those of her coven and his own began to throw their magic into the fray. And yet, somehow, sensing all of this going on around and behind him didn’t deter him from his target.

“You think you can kill me?” Stiles said to her darkly. He’d always had a dark streak in him, a part of him he kept buried because in all honesty it scared him. But now, now he let it rise to the surface, let it feed his magic. He knew his eyes were shifting from the crimson red of his Alpha to a dark silver from his magic. “You can’t kill me!” He threw a bolt of magic at Cassandra that caught her on the side and threw her back twenty feet into the trunk of a tree. She lay still, blood flowing from her eyes and ears. Stiles turned and set his sights on his next target as his wolf snapped and snarled inside him, wanting to taste the blood it could so easily smell on the air.

He stepped up to a wolf from the intruding pack fighting against Kira just as he caught a scent that stopped him for a second. A scent so faintly familiar but unknown at the same time, but ignored it as he kicked the wolf in the back of the knees, dropping him to the ground instantly. Stiles wasted no time in twisting his neck and relishing the sound of the bones cracking. He let out a howl that signaled to every creature, supernatural and not, that he was the apex predator here and all would soon bow to him. Deep, deep in the back of his mind he knew he was treading a dangerously thin line, but years of anger, hatred, despair and heartbreak were coming out in a bloody catharsis of slaughter and he couldn’t stop it.

Derek was fighting with Liam against a beta from the intruding Alpha’s pack and holding their own for the moment, but Stiles could sense more wolves coming. Not a lot, maybe a handful, but it was just that many more unknowns. It seemed the mystery pack was working their way in to join the fray. But right now he needed to focus on the wolves already here. There were bodies flying, bits of trees, plants and other detritus being flung through the air as the packs and witches fought. When Stiles heard Satomi’s angry roar he turned in time to see the Alpha that had arrived with Cassandra sink his claws into her as Scott tried to kick off one of his betas right next to her. Stiles didn’t even hesitate as he threw a ball of energy at him, causing both him and Satomi to fly back into Scott and land hard on the beta. Scott recouped fast enough to finish the beta before throwing an angry look at Stiles. But Stiles didn’t care, he was already on top of another beta slashing at her throat and torso. She screamed as he tore through muscle and tissue, her eyes fading from gold to a dull brown before falling lifeless to the ground.

He threw himself back into the fight, working closer to Derek to provide any protection he could to his mate. He could tell the newest wolves had entered the fray and once again caught that faint scent of familiarity, but he figured the more wolves to kill the better. He caught Derek’s eye, getting a nod that his mate was doing okay despite the multitude of blood and scratches all over him. Erica and Boyd were fighting hard and he could see Boyd was hurting, a long gash running down his leg that wasn’t healing. Erica had scorch marks all over her body from the witches, but they weren’t showing signs of stopping.

His own pack was proving his well earned pride as he watched them fight like a pack should, as a cohesive unit tearing into witches and wolves alike. He widened his stance as a young beta foolishly ran at him, claws up and fangs out. The poor pup didn’t stand a chance and Stiles just grinned at him before swiping at him and knocking him down to the ground hard. A loud grunt escaped the beta as he tried to rise but Stiles just stood on his back, his own claws wrapped around the kid’s throat.

“Jesus, what are you, fifteen? What a fucking joke,” he spat at the wolf.

“Fuck you, I’m gonna kill you and rule over your pack…”

Unfortunately the young beta was unable to finish his proclamation once Stiles ripped through him. He stood and turned as he caught the scent of sulfur before finding himself blasted backwards. He smacked into the ground hard on his back, losing his breath for a second. Pulling up he saw Cassandra moving towards him.

“Damn, I should’ve made sure you were fucking dead you bitch,” he said as he spat out blood and stood up. He could see Scott and Derek moving towards him but he held up a hand. He didn’t care about Scott but he didn’t want Derek near the witch.

“This territory will be mine, wolf,” Cassandra sneered at him as she threw magic at him. Stiles only laughed as he easily blocked it. She was still upright but definitely weaker than she was.

“I’m afraid I have other plans for this territory honey, and ones that do not involve you,” he replied, throwing his own magic back at her. She blocked it, but barely. He heard Scott growl behind him, probably not happy with Stiles’ words, but he didn’t care. Right now he needed to focus on the witch in front of him.

“Oh believe me, I will be the one who takes over.” She threw a spell at Stiles that he blocked easily as they began to dance around each other. “You wolves are so weak minded. It’s amazing what a few well spoken spells can do to you mutts. I was able to so easily influence your behavior. A little desire to no longer be an alpha. To give up your power to another. Or perhaps one to help fester the self-hatred and anger a human might have towards someone else.” She threw spells as she spoke, easily blocked by Stiles. Her words began to register in the back of his mind, words that confirmed his thinking that something else was at work here in Beacon Hills.She was going to try and tire him out, but it wouldn’t work. Stiles was stronger than her, he just need to maneuver her away from Derek so Derek wouldn’t get hurt when he unleashed his power at her. “And let’s not forget my best spell. Aim it at a new alpha with no idea what he’s doing and suddenly he’s taking over. And in the end all that’s left is a pathetic group of wolves so weak that any ole witch can move in and take over his territory.”

Stiles blocked her last spell but let his attention divert a little as he picked up on the arrival of a new alpha. He could hear the newest alpha fighting the one that came with the witch and he was again hit with that sense of familiarity. He threw a spell at the witch that was off centered, his attention thrown when he heard Derek yell out in surprise. He was bombarded suddenly with Derek’s chemosignals. Surprise, anger, shame, all hitting at the same time, but under it all a thin sliver of hope. He was blasted backward with a more potent spell from the witch who took advantage of his misplaced attention. The fighting around them picked up again, stronger this time. There was a sudden frenzy of activity around him and Stiles tuned it out. He needed to take this witch down. He stood up and began to pull his magic forward when he immediately noticed something was very, very wrong.

“Aww, what’s wrong little Alpha?” Cassandra mocked. “Your magic not working?”

Stiles pushed his panic down. His magic was no longer singing through his veins. Tattoos that would glow with his power were flat and black, lifeless.

“What the fuck did you do to me?”

“I took advantage of the situation and bound your magic. It won’t last. Well, it will, because you’ll be dead.” Her eyes hardened as she threw another spell. Stiles tried to dodge it but it caught him in the side, stealing his breath with the pain it caused as he hit the ground.

“Fuck,” he muttered to himself. He needed his own witch, Ann-Marie, to help him out, but he couldn’t see her anywhere. He let his senses out but could not feel her through the pack bonds. He refused to think more on it, as it was possible she was injured or doing her own magic that kept him from sensing her. He rolled as another spell came at him. He kept trying to pull his magic free but was failing. Instead he pulled on his alpha spark to aid him. He debated on shifting to his wolf form. He’d be able to get to her fast and attack, but he doubted he’d actually be able to complete the shift before she killed him. He shifted to his beta form and grabbed a handful of dirt and flung it at her, using his enhanced powers to hopefully get it in her face. But she was quicker and blocked the dirt with a spell and flung another at Stiles as he stood, catching him in the chest. The power burned through him and the pain was incredible. He took in large lung-fulls of air, trying to breathe through it.

He managed to get back up and scramble backwards a couple of steps. He could hear Derek yelling for him, but he ignored him in order to keep his attention focused. He let loose a growl as he got his feet under him and tried to ready himself to pounce, but Cassandra was ready for him as she lobbed another spell. Stiles shifted off to the side instead of at her, having to avoid the spell. This was getting ridiculous, he thought. He couldn’t get a good shot in and she had every advantage. He refused to let the worry at his predicament over take him though and just tried to reset his position. But Cassandra was moving fast, despite her own injuries. She began to throw spells at him, one after another. Stiles roared out in pain as he was hit each time, in no position to get out of the way or defend himself. He lay on the ground, writing in agony as Cassandra moved over him. Her eyes were wild with madness and hatred as she let her hands glow. Stiles coughed up blood and spat it out as he rolled over to his knees and tried to get up but only making it to being on all fours.

“You fool, just die already. You’ve lost, your pack has lost.”

Her arms glowed brightly, purple and yellow and green lights swirling around as she called up every last bit of her power and a magic. She began to chant, her arms raising over Stiles. He couldn’t avoid the whine this time, one of despair at having failed. He thought he’d had the upper hand, had thought he could waltz in and destroy the McCall pack. Then thought he could reignite things with Derek, could walk back out of Beacon Hills with his mate and find happiness. But he realized, with a sad, coughing laugh that it was never in the cards for him. He let his head hang, not wanting to see the spell that would kill him coming.

Cassandra began to finish her chant when the air was suddenly rent with an ear piercing shriek that shook the very earth. Stiles could feel his wolf ears swell from the decibels being produced and looked up to see Lydia standing there. The banshee had her arms out towards Cassandra, her banshee scream aimed at the witch. He could feel the blood coming from his ears and eyes as Lydia continued to scream. Cassandra had stopped chanting to throw up a protection spell against Lydia. It was working, but barely. Stiles tried to stand up to finish the witch only to find himself suddenly back on the ground with the most agonizing pain ripping through him.

Back onto all fours he looked down and noticed the thick tree branch mysteriously protruding from his chest. Everything around him went eerily quiet as he looked at the mass of wood sticking out of him and had the ridiculous thought of, “where did that come from?” He could hear Derek roaring in anger and pain, could hear others yelling his name, all of it sounding like it was coming from under water. He looked up at Cassandra. She had a worried look on her face, but everything was in slow motion. He saw a massive dark blur fly through his vision and tackle her. It was a wolf. Derek? Was that Derek ripping her throat out? Good, he thought.

“Derek?” He whispered, still in shock. He yelled out in pain as a clawed hand grabbed the back of his neck and the other pushed the wood further through his chest.

“Derek’s not coming for you asshole. I told you that you would never get my territory, and I meant it,” Scott grunted, twisting the branch painfully inside him.

Stiles did laugh this time, the sound wet and bubbly. “Oh my god, I never wanted your territory Scott. I wanted you dead and you pack omega. That was my deal with Satomi, that she wouldn’t get in my way. But I never wanted Beacon Hills. Too pain…” Stiles coughed, blood dripping freely now from his mouth. “…ful.”

Lydia had finally stopped screaming and Stiles could hear Derek going crazy somewhere in the distance. He couldn’t feel his pack that well and knew he probably only had a few more minutes to live. He could feel the branch, where it had pierced a lung and caught part of his heart. His breathing was ragged as he tried to look up and find Derek. He just wanted one last look at his mate. He tried to push back all of the feelings of regret at everything he’d never been allowed to have with Derek. All the what-ifs, could-haves. He tried to suck in air, the sound raspy and jagged and incredibly painful. He could hear howling and roaring and once again it all sounded so far away. His eyes were unable to focus and he let out a guttural moan when Scott twisted again.

The howling got louder, sounding like a train coming up the tracks and suddenly Stiles was in blinding pain once again as he went tumbling, the tree branch being pushed through his chest even more as he was rolled. He suddenly had hands on him, but he couldn’t tell who they belonged to. His pack senses were gone, his eyes cloudy with tears and pain. Someone was talking to him, but he couldn’t tell what they were saying. Someone was trying to drain his pain but it was pointless. He let out a blood curdling scream when the branch was suddenly yanked from him in one swift move and he rolled over to his side and vomited blood, crying from the pain. More hands were on him but on his side he could see Derek and Scott fighting.

Derek was fighting like Stiles had never seen before, and Stiles felt a mixture of pride and fear. He didn’t want Derek dead at Scott’s hands. He ignored whoever was trying to manhandle him and see to his wound as he watched Derek sweep under a vicious swipe from Scott only to pop up and grab Scott by the throat. Stiles kept watching as Derek slowly squeezed, pulling Scott off the ground by several inches, his face close to his Alpha’s.

“You son of a bitch, you will die for this,” Derek growled out, his fangs dangerously close to Scott’s face as he brought his second hand up to join the first one. Scott’s own hands were clasped around Derek’s wrists, trying in vain to get Derek to let go as he felt his breath leaving him. “You had no right! No right to do this to me and my pack!” _Squeeze_ …”I took you under my wing, I trained you!” _Squeeze_ …”I protected you!” _Squeeze_ …”I taught you how to be an Alpha!” _Squeeze_ …”And you betrayed me! You betrayed my mate! Your best friend! Your pack!”

There were gasps from wolves as they watched Derek’s eyes glow bright blue with each word, then as his eyes began to seep from bright blue to crimson red, just as Scott’s faded from red to gold. Derek was shaking with his rage as he squeezed with all of his might, suffocating Scott before moving his hands and with a brutal twist snapped Scott’s neck in half before dropping his body. There were cries from the McCall pack, mostly from Kira, but Derek ignored them. He turned towards Stiles, eyes still glowing red as he ran back to his mate. He came down on his knees hard as he scooped Stiles into his lap.

“Oh my god, oh my god Stiles, please hang on!”

Erica, Boyd and Liam had all been trying to drain Stiles’ pain away, hoping that it would be enough to heal him, but it was too little too late. Stiles knew it, and the betas knew it. But they refused to stop.

Derek eyes began to well up as he shifted out of his beta form, the tears falling as he cradled his mate.

“No please, it’s not fair, you can’t leave me now. I just got you back.” Derek caressed Stiles’ face wiping blood from his face and trying not to wince at the rattle coming from his lungs. Stiles looked up as another figure leaned over him and began to come into focus.

“P-Peter?”

If the sight of a tree branch sticking out of his chest was a shock, seeing Peter Hale’s face leaning over him with a serious look of concern was downright bewildering.

“Well, well. Looks like you’re in a bit of a jam there Stilinski,” Peter said with his usual wry grin.

Stiles just looked at him, confused beyond all hell. “W-Where the hell did you come from,” he coughed. God he hurt so bad, he just wanted the pain to go away.

“I was the second Alpha whose pack you couldn’t find no matter how hard you looked. Seems I’ve still got some tricks up my proverbial sleeve.” Peter settled in next to Derek and laid both of his hands on Stiles’ chest.

“Uncle Peter, it’s not working, nothing’s working to make him heal,” Derek wept, wiping his face of tears. Peter looked over at his nephew, at the look of utter despair on his face. He lifted a hand to Derek’s shoulder and looked him in the eyes.

“Let me try, nephew. I owe you this much,” he said quietly. Derek didn’t respond other than a small, sad nod. Peter placed his hands back down on Stiles’ chest and began to draw his pain, pulling as hard as he could. Stiles’ eyes widened as he watched Peter’s face strain and his eyes glow red as the black lines ran up his arms. Peter began to sweat and shake, but he kept pulling until he threw his head back and howled, his eyes dimming from red to bright blue as Stiles let out a shuddering breath and his back arched off the ground. Stiles’ hand flew out and gripped the wolf nearest him and clamped down as he felt not only the pain fall away but the internal damage begin to knit and heal. It was excruciating and euphoric all at the same time. He could vaguely hear Derek calling his uncle’s name out until the blackness settled in around him and he finally, _finally_ , sank into painless oblivion.

As Stiles blacked out the wind kicked up, blowing leaves in a swirling pattern around Stiles and Peter. It was a soft breeze, almost a caress, and Derek could swear he heard someone speak through the wind the words…

“…. _it is restored_ ….”

Derek let out the breath he was holding as he watched Stiles pass out and his uncle fall over onto his side. Peter was staring sightlessly and taking in huge, gulping breaths as three betas he’d never seen before ran over to cradle Peter. They began to drain Peter’s pain away as much as they could and tried to comfort him. A few minutes later Peter came to, face pale and wan. He sat up and immediately looked to Stiles and Derek.

“Did it work?” He rasped out.

Derek could only nod as he held Stiles in his arms. He could feel Stiles was healing, could hear his breathing evening out as his lungs began to repair themselves.

“Why? How?” Derek didn’t even know where to start on what had just happened. He looked around at the wolves who were circling them. There were members of Stiles’ pack, of the McCall pack. Satomi was off to the side, bloodied but alive. Derek glossed over the fact several people were not there. He then looked at his uncle and the three strange betas.

“I owed you for my life. I chose to save your mate,” Peter said, still a little out of breath. He leaned over to Derek and nuzzled him, scenting him. “Thank you for my life, Alpha”, Peter said quietly, so only Derek could hear. Derek wrapped one arm around his uncle and held him tightly, wondering what the hell had just happened that he had not only his mate alive and with him, but his only family member back as well.


	12. Chapter 12

_Maybe I'm broken_   
_Maybe I'm wrong_   
_I could've spoken sooner than I should have_   
_Only the good die old_   
_That's what they told me_   
_But I don't know_

****

Stiles laid still, refusing to move an inch as he took stock of his situation. His eyes were still closed as he started at his feet and worked his way up checking on his injuries. The breath that left him in relief when he felt his magic surge through him was unavoidable though, and figured there was no point in being stealthy. He opened his eyes and squinted, despite the fact the room was dim. He dragged a hand up to his chest and could feel the puckered skin that was still healing. He was shirtless and after wiggling around a little could tell he at least had his boxers on. Thank god for small favors, he thought.

He tried to move his head and groaned, he had a massive headache and sent some of his magic to try and relieve it, then jumped when a hand that wasn’t his rested on his forehead. How the hell did he not realize he wasn’t alone?

“Easy, you’re healing well but you’re not there yet,” said the voice. Stiles flopped his head over and blinked his eyes into focus, hoping to see Derek. Instead he took in the dark blond hair and scruff and blue eyes of Peter Hale.

“Peter? I thought I was imagining all that,” he rasped out. Stiles wasn’t sure whether to be freaked out or grateful to see Peter sitting there. The last time he’d seen the elder Hale he’d been his usual creeper self and had seemed eager to see the pack fail.

“No, no, it’s me in all my beauty and handsomeness,” he quipped with a patent Peter Hale grin. Stiles noticed it didn’t reach his eyes though.

“What happened? Where did you come from? Where’s Derek? Is he ok? My pack…” Stiles began to ramble, wanting to know what had gone down.

“Shh, Derek is fine. I made him leave your room to get some sleep before he keeled over, and the rest of your pack is mingling around,” he replied, his hands draining some of the pain away. After a moment he leaned back and picked up a bottle of water and opened it before helping Stiles sit up enough to drink.

“Take it slow or you’ll give yourself a stomach ache. I don’t fancy you vomiting all over me.”

Stiles snorted but obeyed, despite how thirsty he was. When he was done he laid back down and watched as Peter capped the bottle and put it back on the end table. Peter sat back in the chair that had been placed next to the bed and looked at Stiles. He looked tired, Stiles thought. Like a man who’d been through a lot.

Stiles inhaled, scenting the air around him and realized Peter’s scent was the one he’d been smelling in the Preserve all this time. “Why are you here Peter?” Stiles asked, honestly wanting to know what brought the man back to Beacon Hills. Was he going to fight Derek for the pack? He’d been the other Alpha Stiles had been looking for. The pack that had been scouting them, so that had to mean only one thing.

Peter let a breath out as he looked away but at nothing in particular. “You want the long story or the short?”

“How about the medium,” Stiles replied. Peter snorted at him, his eyes crinkling a little.

“The medium. Right then. Me and my merry pack were here to see what was left of the McCall pack, to see if we could either take it over, or, if nothing else, get my nephew out of his situation.” When he paused Stiles cut in.

“How did you know about Derek’s ‘situation’, as you put it?”

Peter looked up from where he’d been picking at his fingernails with a classic “Peter” look and grin. “Spies, my good boy. Malia is my daughter. I had her placed into that godforsaken pack to keep an eye on Derek and on how things were unfolding. After I left I’d been hearing rumors about how McCall was causing the pack to implode. I simply placed my spy and waited for the right moment to strike.”

“When I saw you arrive into town – and let me tell you what a surprise it was to see the gangly human had grown into not only a powerful mage but an Alpha werewolf on top of it, I began to watch you and see what was going to happen. Then when I saw you and Derek that day at the Nemeton and discovered you two were mates, well, let’s just say it made me change my plans a little.”

Stiles wasn’t sure what to make of that. It sort of explained why he’d had trouble discovering the elusive second wolf pack since Peter had first-hand knowledge of Beacon Hills and the McCall pack. He would know exactly how to hide himself. He would need to ask him about how Malia could possibly be his daughter, but he had more pressing concerns.

“So are you here to take the pack from Derek?”

There was no missing the undertone of danger in Stiles’ words, and Peter heard them loud and clear. Despite his injuries Stiles would stand with Derek, although more than likely in front of, to protect the territory. But to Stiles’ surprise Peter simply gave him a small smile and flashed bright blue eyes at him.

“No, as you can see I am no longer an Alpha Stiles.”

“What happened?”

Before Peter could answer the door opened quietly and Derek came into the room and immediately to Stiles’ side, kneeling down to check on him and then kissing him deeply, his hands shaking as he did. Stiles eagerly returned it, letting the taste and scent of his mate envelop him. They needed a serious discussion soon about where they stood as a couple, but for now he would relish this and hope for the best. Derek broke the kiss, looking into Stiles’ eyes, then bent down for another kiss, just as passionate as the first but somewhat quicker.   
  
“God, I thought I’d lost you,” he whispered, his eyes wet as he stroked his thumbs over Stiles’ cheeks. “I thought I’d gotten you back only to have you taken from me once again.” Derek rested his forehead against his mate’s, just holding on to him and convincing himself that Stiles was alive and there. 

“How are you feeling?” Derek asked, pulling back and wiping his eyes.

“M-fine. What happened?” Stiles let his senses roam through pack bonds, trying to get a sense of what was happening. He could barely sense his pack and it was making him panicky. That combined with the feeling that Peter was in the middle of something made him nervous. Stiles felt an overpowering need to know exactly what had happened, why Peter had arrived as an Alpha but was no longer, why he was here and what his plans were. “Derek, tell me what’s going on, please. Where is my pack, what is happening. Is everyone ok?”

Derek shushed him, trying to get him to calm down. “Stiles, it’s okay. Not, not everyone made it, ok? We’ll go over that in a minute. But everything’s going to be okay.”

That did the exact opposite of what Derek wanted and had Stiles pushing up and halfway out of the bed. He let his magic come forward to aid him and he pushed Derek back.

“What the fuck happened Derek? The last thing I remember was Scott shoving a god damn tree branch through my chest. Everything else is a fucking blur. Tell me what the fuck happened, now!” He could tell his eyes were red as he commanded Derek, but it had no effect and when Derek flashed his own red eyes back at Stiles it made him stop for a second.

“You’re an Alpha now?” He asked. Derek merely nodded as bits and pieces began to come back to Stiles. “You killed Scott. Took his power. Good.” He said the last word with finality.

“Actually, he took Scott’s Alpha spark before he killed him,” Peter said. Stiles looked at Derek, who had his head down. “The balance has been restored,” he whispered, echoing the words of the Nemeton.

He moved over to hug Derek, trying to convey that not only did he not blame Derek for killing Scott, but also for comfort and to convey his love for the man. He pulled back before he could embarrass the man in front of his uncle.

“Are you the one that killed Cassandra, or did I just imagine that?” He asked, sitting down on the bed and reaching for the water.

“That was me,” Peter said.

“So you can do a full shift too?” Stiles asked.

Peter raised both eyebrows at him. “Too?”

Stiles grinned and looked at Derek, and when Derek nodded Stiles told him. “We can both do a full shift. Derek is black and I’m a white wolf.”

Peter looked over to Derek, his eyes suspiciously shiny. “Derek – really? You can?” When Derek nodded again Peter got up and hugged his nephew hard. “Oh my, your mom would be so proud of you Derek. She truly would.” Derek hugged him back just as hard, not realizing how much he’d wanted to hear those words, and how much they meant coming from his uncle. He pulled back and wiped his eyes before looking back at his uncle who for once had a look of pride on his face instead of his usual derision.

“She’d be proud of you too Peter, for what you did for Stiles.”

“What he did? What did he do? Why won’t you guys tell me?” Stiles asked.

Derek let go of his uncle and sat next to Stiles but kept his eyes on Peter. “You were dying Stiles. The wood had ripped into your lungs and heart. You weren’t healing. Peter…Uncle Peter gave up his Alpha spark to save you, for me.” Derek let out a short harsh breath that was part sob before wrapping his arms around Stiles. “God, he saved your life Stiles. I was losing you, again. I couldn’t lose you. I’ve lost everyone I’ve ever loved. And then suddenly he was there and he was healing you. He saved your life.”

Stiles was speechless as Derek hugged him hard. He was hugging him back but his eyes were on Peter who was looking back at his hands as he once again was picking at his fingernails. Creepy Uncle Peter, who had been a beta the last time Stiles had seen him, had at some point become an Alpha, and then gave that up to save Stiles? He honestly couldn’t wrap his brain around it and there was a frisson of guilt as thoughts immediately went to why. Was there some ulterior motive? Peter always had a plan, a plan that at first made it seem like he was doing something for you but ultimately would come back to bite you in the ass and benefit only him.

As if sensing his thoughts Peter looked up at Stiles, gave a wan smile and a nod and then stood. He patted Derek on a shoulder as he quietly left the room.

* * *

 

Stiles sat quietly, none of the other wolves in the room daring to speak. Jess was on one side of him, her hand clasped in his as she wiped her eyes again, but to no avail. She couldn’t seem to control the tears that flowed. Her mate stood behind her trying to offer her comfort through his own hands on her shoulders, but it was useless. Derek sat on his other side, shoulders touching but his hands to himself as he stared off around the room.

Stiles had been brought up to speed on the casualties of the fight. He knew logically that there was no way to come out unscathed, but it didn’t seem to make it any easier. Everyone in the room was somber, not in the mood to celebrate the overall victory. Satomi had checked in with him first to tell him that somehow her pack had been prevented from joining the fight by well-placed mountain ash. It had taken extraordinary amounts to contain her entire pack but it had done its intended purpose, to prevent her betas from joining the fight.

Stiles finally blinked and just looked around the room, taking in the faces. The remaining members of the two packs sat in silence, no one really wanting to look at anyone in particular. Off to back of the room sat Peter, Malia and three betas. A petite woman with deep brown hair sat next to Peter with his hands in hers as she looked around the room as well. Peter didn’t speak but Stiles could sense the discomfort of the small group. They were feeling like outsiders intruding on a private moment. There was another young woman and man who appeared to be a couple sitting next to Peter quietly talking with Malia. This was the first time Stiles had seen these wolves and assumed they were Peter’s betas. He felt a moment of surprise when the woman with Peter stood and murmured into Peter’s ear. He answered her before leaning up and giving her a chaste kiss before she walked outside and began stretching her back. She was pregnant, if the rounded belly was anything to go by. When Peter caught Stiles looking the older man gave Stiles another wan smile. Stiles nodded back. Somehow Peter had just conveyed a thousand words in that one small facial expression.

Stiles turned his attention back to the room. Time to get things moving.

“Okay, so, I guess the first question is who would be the highest ranking member here of the McCall pack,” he said gently, looking over the betas in the room. He looked over to Boyd and Erica, could see Erica start to tear up again, then over to Lydia before settling on Derek.

“Boyd,” Derek said softly. Boyd looked down into his lap, hugging Erica as he did so. “Although, that was before…” Boyd indicated Derek and his new Alpha status. “Not sure how that changes things to be honest.”

Stiles could feel Derek stiffen a little, probably wondering what was going to happen and how the remaining members of the pack would deal with the omega now being Alpha.

“I suggest you guys talk it over. There’s been some serious shake-ups in rank. But we need to see about taking care of our dead, then move from there.”

Stiles rubbed his eyes. He’d healed for the most part but his body still ached from the amount of magical damage done to him from the witch. Muscles would occasionally twitch and just ache, even his bones ached. But worst was the mental ache. He’d stalked into Beacon Hills pissed off and angry and with the world’s largest chip on his shoulder over what had been done to him by the pack. Now he was sitting in a room with a mix of packs, members all somber and weepy. And he was feeling the same. He was beginning to realize that despite everything McCall had done to him when he’d kicked him out of the pack, of losing Derek because of McCall’s actions, Stiles was about to bury the man that used to be his best friend.

The source of everything that had made him the angry, bitter person he was today was gone. The witch was dead. McCall was dead. But as Stiles sat there it was _Scott’s_ body he was seeing. The boy that had befriended him in kindergarten when no one else would play with the crazy, spastic kid. The boy that had been in almost every school class from then on. Who tried to comfort him when his mom died. Who hugged him when his dad had turned to alcohol in order to cope. It was no longer the person who he felt had ruined his life laying outside lifeless. It was Scotty, his best friend, and he was gone.

He looked up when he felt Derek’s fingers on his cheeks, wiping away tears that Stiles hadn’t even realized were falling. He smiled slightly at Derek before rising from his seat and walking out of the house. He moved around the side and pushed open the side door into the garage and waited for his eyes to adjust a little. Finding the tool section he walked over and grabbed a shovel then headed out into the preserve to start digging.

 

Stiles stood over Anne-Marie’s grave, whispering quiet words no one else could hear. He felt incredibly conflicted burying her here. Beacon Hills wasn’t her home, but there was no way he was able to get her back to Vancouver. He’d considered a cremation spell, but deep down he knew she would want to be returned to the earth whole. They were an odd pack, never really having a territory per se. They were nomadic which was incredibly unusual for a wolf pack. But Vancouver was the closest thing to a home for them.

“I hope this is okay Annie,” Stiles whispered at last, his hand resting on the freshly turned dirt under which she lay. He wouldn’t put it past his fellow witch to find a way to haunt his ass if she was indeed unhappy with her placement, and maybe he would deserve it. He agreed to drag his pack into another pack’s problem with literally no gain to them. He looked up when he heard Derek approaching hesitantly, wondering if he was wanted near Stiles as he buried a packmate. Stiles reached out a hand while still squatting over the grave and Derek came up and sat next to him. He wrapped an arm around Stiles’ waist before leaning in to place a kiss on his neck.

“You okay?” Derek asked, looking at Stiles while grabbing a hand to hold it as Stiles got down onto his knees and out of a squat.

“Yeah. No. I will be,” he said with a humorless chuckle. “How’s the rest of your pack doing? Erica doing okay?”

Derek chewed his lip as he looked off to where Erica and Boyd stood with Malia over Liam’s grave. “I don’t know,” he said truthfully. “Liam was like a little brother to her. She would tease him mercilessly but protect him just as passionately. I think of everyone we lost Liam is hitting the hardest.”

Stiles didn’t really have words for that. What did you say to someone who lost all but three members of their pack? ‘Sorry for your loss’ just didn’t quite seem right. Stiles decided it was better to say nothing. Derek would be able to sense how he was feeling anyways.

“How are you holding up?” Derek asked quietly, as if afraid of the answer.  Stiles looked up and noticed Derek was looking at some of Stiles’ betas as he asked. He looked over as well, watching as they finished filling in a grave for another one of his betas. He’d lost three good people today. Each loss was like a knife in his gut and he felt that loss vividly in the lack of pack bonds. Anne-Marie had been the hardest to deal with, to be honest. She had been his mentor, his closest friend behind Jess. She had helped keep him grounded when he was still new to his magic, and then had acted as a magical anchor when he’d found himself suddenly dealing with being an Alpha wolf on top of magical. She’d never been afraid to cuff his ears when he did something stupid, not at all intimidated by his Alpha status. He was going to miss her dearly.

But he smiled at his mate and clapped him on the shoulder as he told him he’d be okay, but then turned more serious. “Hey, uh, I want to ask you something?” Stiles said, looking at the grave and not meeting Derek’s eyes, though he could feel them on him. When Derek said, “sure,” Stiles rustled up the nerve to continue.

“So uh, I guess we both know that in terms of our wolf sides we’re, you know, mates…” Stiles hesitated and he felt Derek stiffen beside him.

“Stiles, you don’t have to do anything, I mean I’m not the same guy I was before, I know that and if you want to…”

Stiles cut him off, finally looking at him. He could see the uncertainty in Derek’s eyes, could smell the sadness, the hope. “Derek, I don’t want to leave you. I don’t know how we do it, but fuck, I feel like I got a second chance here with you. I want what we had, what was kept from us. I love you Derek, I always have. I tried, fucking _tried_ to purge you from my heart when I was forced to leave. And no matter how hard I tried to shove my feelings into a tiny little box they were still there. When that didn’t work I tried to kill those feelings by fucking anything and everything with a heartbeat, I developed a wolfsbane-laced strain of weed and tried to use being high as a way to deal. I was doing okay too until I came back here and saw you, and then that gaping hole in my heart was wrenched open and I – I – fuck, it all came rushing back and then you weren’t an Alpha and were acting all weird and it just really messed with me and all I wanted to do was grab you out of that clearing that day especially when I caught your scent and I wanted to just run away and take care of you forever…”

“Stiles, babe, breathe,” Derek said, a small smile on his lips.

Stiles realized he was out of breath from talking fast, trying to get his feelings out and chuckled. “Sorry, guess you didn’t me to word vomit on you,” he said, brushing a hand over his face. Derek reached up and ran his fingers down his cheek, then leaned in to kiss him. He pulled back a little and snorted.

“Some things never change I see.”

Stiles laughed and smacked Derek on the chest, then sobered up. “Do you think there’s a chance for us?”

Derek just smiled at him and nodded. Since regaining his Alpha status he was already feeling that sense of self confidence returning. “Yeah, yeah I do. I’m not sure how, but we’ll find a way. I’m not going to let you go this time, Stiles. I love you, and nothing will get between us again. That’s a promise. We’ll figure it out.”

“Hey Derek, you have a sec? In private?” Came a voice sounding incredibly unsure.

Both of them looked up to see Erica and Boyd standing off a ways, looking nervous. Stiles leaned in for one more quick kiss before standing up and stretching his legs out. He took off towards his betas to see how they were holding up, letting his fingers trail over Erica’s arm as he passed.


	13. Chapter 13

_Last things last_  
_By the grace of the fire and the flames_  
_You're the face of the future, the blood in my veins, oh ooh_  
_The blood in my veins, oh ooh_

 

 

Stiles was puttering around his hotel room when the tell-tale buzz under his skin alerting him to the presence of an outside wolf kicked in, and it only took another moment before he registered the scent and that it was Peter Hale. Peter was at his door and he wasn’t alone, and it made Stiles pause and let his senses roam. He could smell the other wolf but had no idea who it was. He could feel the rest of his pack that was nearby on high alert but quickly sent calming thoughts to each of them. He felt no sense of aggression coming from Peter. In fact, all he could sense was nervousness with a small whiff of hope fluttering under it. There was a quiet knock at the door and Stiles broke out of his spot and walked calmly over to answer.

He swung open the door to see Peter Hale and the female wolf Stiles had noted earlier standing next to and slightly behind Peter, holding his hand. While normally Stiles would register this as a sign of submission of the female wolf to her more dominant partner, in this case Stiles could immediately tell this was a wolf protecting the mother of his pup. He could also tell that Peter had knocked and then quickly stood back from the door so as to not be encroaching on what he probably considered another Alpha’s den space.

“Peter, to what do I owe this pleasure?” Stiles asked flatly. Just because he scented no untoward emotion coming from the wolf didn’t mean Peter wasn’t up to something. Stiles had never trusted him as a teenager and had no reason to trust him now.

Peter squeezed the hand of the female as he spoke. “I was wondering if we might speak, Alpha.”

Stiles couldn’t help it, but he narrowed his eyes at the title because the Peter Hale he knew would never use someone’s title in respect like that. He studied him for a long moment, noticing the way Peter avoided his gaze – his eyes downcast, the subtle baring of throat. The woman behind him was also doing the same and Stiles could sense she was nervous. Peter stood there patiently while Stiles studied him only offering a small head nod when Stiles finally stepped back and allowed them to enter the room.

He let the two wolves enter his hotel room, not bothering to look back at them. He walked over to the little mini fridge that came with the room and took out two bottles of cold water and offered them to the wolves. They stood awkwardly in the tiny area that could maybe be deemed the entry way. The room was larger than most hotel rooms, a sort of mini-suite, but it wasn’t a penthouse either. Peter took the waters gratefully and thanked Stiles and then handed one to the woman.

“Have a seat and tell me why you’re here,” Stiles said as he pulled out a chair at the small table in the room. Luckily there were two other chairs and Peter pulled one out for the woman and waited for her to sit before doing the same himself.

Stiles sat and continued to study the two of them. The woman had a death grip on her bottle, although she’d already opened it and drank from it. Peter was worrying his thumb and forefinger as he sat, perhaps collecting his thoughts.

“I’m honestly I’m not sure where to start,” Peter eventually said, as he looked at Stiles. His bright blue eyes were clear, no hint of the crazy creeperwolf Stiles knew as a teenager. But Peter was a hell of an actor too, so Stiles kept his guard up.

“How about at the beginning then, Peter,” Stiles replied.

With a quick look at the woman and a hand squeeze Peter sat back and looked at Stiles before beginning his story.

“Well, it really all started around the time I left the pack. I was already on edge with the way Scott was beginning to undermine Derek. I got hurt rather badly during a fight when Scott should’ve had my back. I wasn’t healing, and I didn’t know until after he’d done it that Derek had given up his Alpha powers trying to heal me. Had you been around during that time I’m sure you’d have agreed I wasn’t worth it.”

Stiles only snorted, not bothering to verbally agree with that sentiment.

“However, what was done was done. Derek had told me that despite my actions since the fire I was the only family he had left and he’d have done anything to save me, and so there I was. The pack began to really change then. Derek became, shall we say – meeker- as Scott grew more bold and careless. I tried to convince Derek to leave the pack, or to fight Scott to take it back. He wouldn’t hear of it, and I watched him sink lower and lower. It was – painful- to watch. I gave him an ultimatum, either take his remaining betas and fight Scott, or I was leaving. I couldn’t take it any longer, and without my own Alpha powers I was in no shape to take Scott on. He had created a sort of cult of his own betas, and they were more than happy to obey Scott’s commands to watch my every step for any sense of overthrow attempt.

I honestly thought Derek would come with me…”

Peter’s words trailed off and Stiles was hit with a sense of bereftness at the fact that Derek hadn’t left the pack with him.

“As I left, he told me he felt like it would be the last glorious slap to his mother’s memory if he abandoned the territory that had been in our family for so long. He honestly thought things would work out.  
  
So I left, wandered as an omega for some time before finding a nice pack to take me in. I kept my ears open to what was happening in Beacon Hills, and the more I heard the more angry and disgusted I became. When our pack was suddenly attacked I found myself fighting off the Alpha that had attacked us and getting in the killing blow.”

Peter looked at Stiles directly in the eyes this time as he spoke, his words serious. “I never wanted the Alpha powers back, Stiles. Whether you believe me or not, I never wanted this. After what I had done to gain them the first time around, I felt sick. But our pack had been decimated. It was me and the few betas you see here today that were left. So I gathered them up and healed as best as we could, and tried to make it as a basically powerless pack. As if that wasn’t enough, a few months later I discovered Malia, a daughter I never knew I’d fathered. I remembered her mother well enough, a ridiculous one night stand after I recovered from my coma. One night was all it took I guess.”

Peter stopped to take a sip of his water and nuzzled the woman when she hugged him in comfort. “So there I was with a brand new daughter bringing up memories of the one I lost in the fire, the daughter I never got to meet. And she was being cared for by this delightful creature right here, Alexis. My mate.”

Alexis smiled at Peter before shyly ducking her eyes at Stiles. “I got two second chances that day,” Peter said quietly, still looking at his mate. “A mate and a daughter.”

Peter turned back to Stiles, his face all seriousness once again. “When I heard what was happening here, I knew I had another chance, a third chance if you will. I was an Alpha, and though my pack was – is – pitifully small, I knew if I played it right I could strike at Scott and take my family’s territory back. This land has always been Hale land, and it’s time it was back in Hale hands. I put Malia in as a spy, she fed me information and together we coordinated the perfect time to attack. I just never expected you to come waltzing in.”

And there was the customary Peter Hale smirk that Stiles knew so well. “You threw a bit of a monkey wrench in my plans until I realized what that connection was between you and Derek. And so I adjusted my plans a bit.”

Stiles looked up at the wall, shaking his head. “You let me do your dirty work. And then what, you would kill me to take the territory? So why save my life Peter? What is it you truly want here?”

“I want to be a part of your pack. A part of the Stilinski-Hale pack of Beacon Hills.”

* * *

 

“I’m sorry you what, now?” Stiles asked, truly surprised. He hadn’t seen this coming whatsoever, and the dead seriousness radiating off of the wolf sitting across from him was startling.

“I saved your life, Stiles, for a reason. My nephew saved my life all those years ago. He didn’t think twice about giving up his Alpha powers to bring me back to life. Was he influenced by Scott McCall? Yes, I believe he probably was. But in that moment things became crystal clear to me. Derek was always mediator of our family, the protector. While his brothers and sisters were out there chasing rabbits he was the one coaxing the pill bug onto a napkin so he could take it back outside. My nephew has always had a pure heart, despite the absolute hell he was put through first with Kate Argent, the fire, then losing his sister to me. Somewhere in my _fucked up head_ as I ran around as a crazed monster killing people, I realized he was turning to stone inside but there was still _that little bit_ of his heart that remained pure. It was that part that willingly saved my life that day, despite the consequences and despite any influence from McCall. And because of that sacrifice I was able to find not only a mate, which let me tell you to find it twice in a lifetime is unheard of, but to also find a second daughter. And this woman right here is the reason I was able to heal my mind in ways it was never capable of doing. And now we are being blessed with another child and I will do _everything_ in my being to protect them. _Everything_. And when I realized that you and Derek were mates, were meant to be together, there was no question in my mind when I saw you laying there dying. I didn’t think twice. Because there was no way in hell I would deprive my nephew of the smallest bit of happiness that he has deserved his entire life. It was his sacrifice that allowed me my happiness and it was no question I would gladly return that favor to him.

I don’t know much about your pack, or where you’re from other than you don’t really have a permanent piece of land. And I can’t help but think that maybe someone out there is trying to right the wrongs done to my family ever since the fucking Argents strolled into Beacon Hills and that bitch battered her eyes at my under-aged nephew. Because from where I’m sitting I see two Alphas, mates – a fucking _Alpha Pair_ – who can run this territory together, who can rebuild it and return it to the god damn glory it used to be and who can make the Hale name mean something again. And I don’t know who this Aonghus person is but you’re a Stilinski, and you should be referred to by your _proper name_.”

Peter slapped his hand down on the table with the vehemence of his last sentence, his breath coming quickly as he had spoken. Stiles could only sit there in shocked silence as he absorbed Peter’s words.

“I uh…”

That was all Stiles could get out as Peter stood and helped his mate up to her feet. Peter bowed his head slightly to Stiles and bared his neck as he spoke again.

“As Derek’s uncle, I encourage you to speak to him about the possibility of merging your packs and ruling Beacon Hills together. And should you decide to do so, then as the former Alpha to a pack of now omega wolves I will humbly beg your consideration in accepting us into your pack. I thank you for your time and your hospitality Alpha Aonghus, and I bid you good evening.”

And with that Peter turned on his heel and led his mate out of the hotel room, the door quietly swinging shut with a soft click. Stiles just sat there looking at the door, wondering what the hell had just happened.

He let himself sit for a few minutes and ruminate on Peter’s words, and realized that what he was suggesting was almost identical to what the Nemeton had been trying to tell him. Although, Derek was once again an Alpha, therefore the territory was once again under the Hale name, so maybe it meant nothing. Maybe the Nemeton had foreseen this – Derek killing Scott and regaining his Alpha status. They hadn’t really had a chance to talk since everything had gone down and it was possible that now that Derek was once again in charge of the area he would have no need for Stiles to stick around. He ignored the pang in his chest at those thoughts, but was ready to accept it. This was Derek’s home, Stiles’ was up in Vancouver. Besides, his pack belonged up North, not down here as interlopers. He would finalize everything and prepare to pack up and head home as soon as possible.

With that decided he stood up and walked over to the table when he heard his phone ringing. He didn’t recognize the number but could see it was a local Beacon Hills area code.

“Hello,” he said, his voice flat.

_“Stiles, it’s Derek. I just had an unusual discussion with Erica and Boyd that could affect both of our packs, if you were to agree to it. Can we meet and discuss it?”_

Stiles just smiled into the phone as he grabbed his keys to the SUV and his hotel card key, then headed outside.

“You don’t say. I’ll wager it was very similar to an incredibly odd meeting I just had with your creepy uncle.”


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to everyone who has left comments, I LOVE them!!
> 
> I'm tossing ideas around for a sequel. Any prompts you want to see? If so let me know!
> 
> Just this chapter and then the epilogue!

_I get older and life fades but you remain_  
_Open up again I believe in second chances_  
_Please let me in oh I believe in second chances_  
_I won't break you_  
_I will not let you down_  
_Open up again I believe in second chances_

Stiles had never felt so awkward in front of his pack, except for maybe the first day as Alpha when he was trying to get a handle on having both wolf and magical powers.

His betas all sat around the table at Denny’s in various stages of eating but all looking directly at him. And not one of them was saying a word. The only good news at the moment was under the intense scents of shock and surprise there didn’t seem to be any outright hostility.

“So yeah, anyways. There it is. I don’t need an answer right now of course, this is a major thing that needs discussion and probably a group vote…”

Jess cut him off before he could finish.

“I say yes.”

He sat up straighter in his seat, his own surprise now at the forefront. “Hang on, like I said we all need to dis…”

“No offense Stiles, but I feel like this might be a no brainer,” came from Sam, a beta in his middle ages. He had gone back to eating, not even looking up as he spoke.

“I, uh – what?” Stiles looked around the table, taking in the nods and generally positive facial expressions of the men and women around the table.

“Yeah, I mean I only have a crap ass job that I can get anywhere,” Lucy said, a twenty four year old who was a fairly new wolf.

Stiles sat stunned as each of his betas all threw out various versions of their acceptance of his proposition.

“Well okay then, I guess we’re merging packs here in Beacon Hills,” he said as he sat back in his seat and looked at his pack with alternating feelings of wonder and pride.

  


 

Stiles felt the breeze caress him as he sat by the Nemeton, his hands resting gently in his lap and his eyes closed. Derek sat next to him, cross-legged and leaning back on his own hands. Stiles wasn’t sure if he could hear the Nemeton or not, but he seemed relaxed regardless. Stiles pushed his feelings of happiness and thanks through him, feeling his tattoos tingle with it, as it pushed out through his hands and bare feet and into the Nemeton. He thanked the gods for granting him the ability to be a part of the magical plane, and the Nemeton for guiding him onto the path that restored not only the Hale pack but his relationship with Derek.

They had spent two days with all three packs discussing ad nauseum the prospect of all three packs coming together. To his surprise there had been no hesitation from any of the wolves, save one, to merge and function under the leadership of the newly minted Alpha Pair. Kira had not been happy and was still grieving the loss of Scott, and she’d flat out refused to stay in the pack, opting instead to go back to New York where her parents lived. Stiles was both understanding and grateful of her decision. He didn’t really trust her due to her loyalty to Scott to be perfectly honest.

What had thrown him for a loop was Peter’s sincerity in being a beta under both Stiles and Derek. Gone was the manipulating creeper wolf of his teenage years. Instead Peter was proving to be an excellent beta as he doted on his wife and unborn child and Malia. He still had the same level of snark and dry humor, and Stiles found himself challenging Peter to see who could raise the level of sarcasm the highest. Stiles actually, to his amazement, found himself thinking that at some point Peter would make an excellent second in command. For now Jess and Boyd acted as seconds to Stiles and Derek, and would remain that way. But Stiles could see Peter replacing Boyd at some point.

He opened his eyes and peeked over at Derek. He was still leaning back on his hands and had his head tilted back and eyes closed, letting the soft breeze flow over his face. Stiles let his gaze linger on the long column of Derek’s throat, of the way his biceps were formed due to holding his weight up on his arms. He was beautiful, Stiles thought. His hair moved ever so slightly with the movement of the air and for once Derek looked relaxed and content. He couldn’t help the small grin at the fact Derek was wearing a faded maroon t-shirt with the Beacon Hills High School lacrosse team logo and name on it. The white paint of the lettering and logo were faded and scratched away in places, attesting to its age. There was that little tick of his heart at knowing Derek had kept his shirt all these years.

His grin grew larger when Derek cracked open one eye slightly, giving him a side-eye.

“You’re creeping on me Stilinski,” he muttered, but with warmth in his tone, before closing his eye again.

“Just enjoying the view, dude,” Stiles retorted as he got up on his knees and knee-walked over to Derek and straddled his lap. Derek opened both eyes fully this time, looking at his mate, but didn’t move from his position.

Derek watched as Stiles fiddled with Derek’s shirt, his long fingers tracing over the letters.  
  
“You kept my shirt,” he said, not making it a question. “Why”

Derek shifted a little on his arms, but other than that didn’t move. Stiles was looking down at his lap as he kept tracing, and Derek could feel a sudden burst of uncertainty before Stiles had slapped a wall around that emotion. For a brief second it seemed a reversal in roles. Stiles was the unsure, timid wolf while Derek felt a level of self-confidence he hadn’t felt in years.

“Because it was yours. It was the last thing I had to carry your scent. Because despite everything Scott told me I still loved you. Because deep down my wolf knew what Scott said were lies. You were my mate. I knew it back then, just as I know it now. You’re my mate, and I love you.”

Stiles let out a breath at Derek’s words, said with such surety and commitment. He finally looked at Derek, his eyes suspiciously bright. Derek pushed himself upright and wrapped both his arms around Stiles’ waist, tucking his nose into Stile’s neck. “I will always love you Stiles. I will never, ever, let anything come between us ever again.”

Stiles had gripped Derek’s shirt and he pushed back a little so that he could kiss Derek. It was gentle at first, Stiles trying to imbue the kiss with everything he was feeling. He let his walls drop so that Derek could feel it as well. He pulled back just a little but kept his forehead against Derek’s.

“I love you more than life Derek. Spend the rest of it with me?” He asked quietly. Derek smiled at him as he let his hands come up to cup his mate’s face. “Forever,” he whispered. Stiles just looked at him before he smiled again, then leaned in for another kiss that quickly turned passionate and bordered on filthy. He let his hands run down Derek’s chest and slip under the hem of his shirt before slowly inching it upward. Derek raised his arms and broke the kiss long enough for Stiles to pull the shirt off, dropping it next to them. Derek returned the favor, pulling Stiles’ shirt off quickly. He let his fingers run over Stiles’ chest, tracing the tattoos. It was the first time he’d seen the ones on his chest and he marveled at the intricacy of the artwork. He traced over runes, knots and spirals. He traced a serpent that came up and formed a spiral over his heart. Derek’s breath caught at the image in the center of the snake’s spiral, the snaked wrapped around it as if protecting it. He looked up at Stiles and found him blushing slightly.

“I guess deep down I always knew as well. I didn’t even consciously have that added, it just happened. And having it over my heart was where it belonged,” he whispered. He watched Derek as his mate kept tracing over the image of the Hale triskelion, surrounded and protected by the serpent.

Derek sat forward, wrapping his arms around Stiles as he rose onto his knees and lifting Stiles enough that Derek could then lean him down into the grass on his back. He slotted himself between his mate’s legs and with his hand on Stiles’ heart he leaned in and kissed his deeply. Their lips and tongues danced with each other as they explored each other’s mouths. They would break long enough to suck marks into each other’s necks, hands roaming over toned chests and backs. At some point Derek sat back and began to undo Stiles’ shorts, a quirked eyebrow asking permission. When his only reply was a sarcastic quip he wasted no time in relieving his mate of his shorts. Stiles kept fumbling with Derek’s leather belt so Derek dealt with the offending garments himself before pulling Stiles upwards and into his lap with a sigh of pleasure as he sat back down. Stiles began to grind down into Derek’s lap, eliciting long moans from the wolf.

When Derek grabbed Stiles’ cock with one hand while the other supported his back Stiles bit out a curse and ground down even harder before he grabbed Derek’s cock in return.

“Fuuuuck, Derek,” he groaned out, relishing in the feel of Derek’s hands on him. Derek nuzzled his neck, sucking hard at the junction between neck and shoulder as he slowly began to pump Stiles’ cock. Stiles kept grinding down into his lap as he kept his own hand moving on Derek, the slow slide becoming unbearable as Derek wanted more, harder, faster. As if reading his mind Stiles began to pick up the pace as he sucked his own marks into Derek’s neck, moans escaping from both men as they rubbed against each other.

Derek wasn’t going to last long, and he could tell Stiles wasn’t either. Somehow deep down that pleased him. That he could get his mate off this quickly despite the fact Stiles had fucked someone else recently. Derek pulled back, his eyes burning crimson. He held his breath for a second seeing Stiles’ eyes just as red and a hint of fang in his mouth.

“Will you claim me, Stiles?” He asked, his breath husky and slightly hoarse. Stiles’ eyes widened and a surge of lust and love blew through him at the question. He nodded quickly. There was no question. “Will you claim me?” He asked back, knowing Derek would but wanting to ask all the same. Derek grunted out a rough ‘yes’ as he grabbed Stiles by the back of the head and pulled him in for a deep, filthy kiss. They both starting stroking again, desperately this time. Derek felt a growl fluttering in his chest as he got close to his release, and when he looked at Stiles again he saw his mate almost wolfed out, his tattoos glowing so brightly they could light up the meadow. Derek let his fangs down as his balls tightened up, that tell tale tingle working its way up from his back, through his groin.

“Fuck Derek, please, more,” Stiles gasped out, leaning over to suck hard on Derek’s neck. His own hand was working furiously. Derek growled hard as he stroked up and down his mate’s cock, thumb sliding over the wet slit. He felt Stiles tighten up at the same he did and bit down hard into Stiles’ neck. As Stiles bit into Derek they both spilled their release, long ropes of come shooting out and landing hotly on their hands. They both continued to stroke each other through the tremors, fangs still sunk into skin until after a few moments they released each other and sat back breathing hard. Derek could feel the most amazing euphoria running through him, and judging by the look on Stiles’ face he was feeling something similar.

“Wha-what is that?” Stiles asked, words drawn out like he was drunk. Derek just shook his head, he had never felt anything like it before.

_“…The Hales are restored…”_

Stiles shivered as the words wound through him and he felt everything settle around him. A sense of peace, of rightness had settled around him physically and mentally, like all was right in the world. He looked at Derek, could see the look of utter contentment on his face and he smiled at him before leaning in for a kiss.


	15. Epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There you have it, all done.  
> I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I did writing it! :-)

_‘Cause I’m on top of the world, ‘ay_   
_I’m on top of the world, ‘ay_   
_Waiting on this for a while now_   
_Paying my dues to the dirt_   
_I’ve been waiting to smile, ‘ay_   
_Been holding it in for a while, ‘ay_   
_Take you with me if I can_   
_Been dreaming of this since a child_   
_I’m on top of the world._

 

_One Month Later…_

Stiles stood over the grave, feelings mixed between sadness and happiness. He readjusted the flowers so that they were just right and set the frame down in them. He looked around thinking that this had been a good choice. An unexpected option for sure, but ultimately a good decision. He’d been gone for three days, packing up what needed packing back in Vancouver. But there had only been one thing he’d really wanted to get and bring back home with him.

“Do you think they’re out there somewhere, watching over us?” He asked Derek quietly. Derek was squatted over a different grave as he placed flowers at the overly large tombstone marking the lives of his family. His mother and father, his brothers and sisters, all dead because of him. Somehow the guilt of Kate, and even the guilt of what had happened with his pack, was beginning to lessen. He took a moment before he responded, his fingers running along the top of the cold marble as he placed small, smooth stones.

“Had you asked me that a month ago I would’ve told you I hoped to hell they weren’t. I never wanted my mother to know how badly I had failed. How I had well and truly lost the Hale pack and name. But now, now I guess I kind of hope maybe they’re out there.”

Stiles just nodded his head in understanding as his own fingers traced over his father’s name. Derek had invited Stiles to intern his cremains in the Hale plot, and at first Stiles had enthusiastically declined, saying he didn’t want to intrude on something as sacred as the Hale burial ground. But Derek had told him it would be a way for Derek to honor Stiles’ father, the father of his mate, the father of the man who saved him. Derek had even offered to have Claudia relocated so that she could be next to her husband, and Stiles had cried at the offer.

Stiles’ only wish, honestly, was that his parents were together again. That his dad could spend his eternity with his wife, the love he’d lost all too soon.

 

 

 

_Four Months Later…_

Alexis laughed as she sat on the porch of the recently completed Hale-Stilinski pack house. Most of the pack were out an about, shopping or running errands or whatever it was they felt like doing. At almost eight months pregnant she was happy to sit in the rocking chair Derek had made for her on the porch with a mug of hot coffee in one hand and a tawdry romance novel in the other. She watched as the three wolves ran around the clearing behind the house chasing and playing with each other.

She was beginning to see a very different side of her mate since he’d come home to his last family member. There had always been a sadness about him that was deeply felt. And she knew it had to do with his family. The loss of pack in the fire combined with the guilt of killing his own niece, of his rampaging insanity as he killed those responsible. The guilt of not being there for his nephew, but at the same time knowing he was responsible for killing Derek’s own sister and newly minted Alpha. So many conflicting emotions had been running through him when she’d met Peter, but she was amazed at how things had slowly been changing since they were accepted into their new pack. Stiles had been skeptical at first, waiting for Peter’s ulterior motives to come forth, but he’d realized Peter only wanted his family back.

In the months since McCall died, the three packs had slowly gotten to know each other and friendships were already being formed.

But what had amazed the most people was the interesting friendship that was beginning to blossom between Stiles and Peter. The two could often be found late at night in the den, PS4 controllers in their hands as they tried to kill each other as they played Call of Duty, arguing and accusing each other of cheating good-naturedly.

And now as she sat on the porch, the crispness of fall in the air, she watched as the three wolves tackled each other into the ground, rolling around as they pulled on ears and tails before breaking off and panting heavily.

After a while they shifted back, the two Hales not bothering with their nudity but Stiles quickly snapping his fingers and a pair of shorts appearing. She watched as he spotted her and blushed, then snorted as Peter noticed Stiles and smirked and literally swaggered up to the house, leaned in and kissed her before going into the house. Derek had rolled his eyes but hurried in after him. She merely shook her head while quietly thanking God for the beauty that was the Hale men, before opening her book back and tucking into the next chapter.

 

 

Stiles was sprawled out on the couch, his head in Derek’s lap and his feet in Jess’ lap. They were having a bit of a pack night, a movie going and an indecent number of pizzas littered about. He wasn’t paying much attention to the movie though, instead just taking in the people in the room. Erica and Boyd were curled on the floor, Peter and Alexis were snuggling in a love seat. Stiles couldn’t help the small smile as he watched Peter run a gentle had over the swell of his mate’s belly. It wouldn’t be long now before the pack had a new member, and Stiles knew that both Peter and Derek were feeling emotional about it. It had been a very, very long time since a new member of the Hale pack had been born into it. It would be a very special occasion, and one that Stiles was already planning in his head. It was something the new pack would need to help it heal. Much like a royal wedding in times of war or depression would often lift the spirits of their people, Stiles knew the birth of Peter’s child would be similar.

Malia sat with her back against her father’s legs, half paying attention to the movie and half making googly eyes at one of Stiles’ pack members. He would need to look into that, he thought to himself.

His eyes roamed over the newly painted entry wall that had quickly been decorated with photos of the pack. Most were of Derek’s pack at the moment, but Stiles had been meticulously taking photos of his betas to add to the collection. Most of the photos were newer, with their subjects looking much happier than they had in the past.

What a difference a few months could make, he thought. He’d gone from having been a bitter kid with not much to look forward to, to a bright future.

A future with his mate, with their packs together as one. And as he envisioned this future for the first time in a very long time Stiles felt at peace. Gone was the anger at what was, the self-hatred and desire to have the world’s biggest attitude.

He felt light and free and hopeful.

_-Fin-_


End file.
